Reality Check
by slayer0109
Summary: Sachiko and Yumi have been a couple since high school, but Sachiko's wedding date is getting closer and her parents still don't know about her relationship.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N:_** Hello, so I realize this isn't my other story that I just recently started (Coming Out). I was about halfway through chapter three of that story when it just kind of hit me that it wasn't the story I wanted to write. I had made mention in every authors note that the characters might be a little different and I think part of that was because I wasn't sure what I was doing. I started this one the day before Valentine's Day and had it ready to go on Valentine's day. Then I realized the ending of this chapter was very very rushed and I didn't want to break it into two chapters. I deleted the ending I had and kept going but that delayed it until today so I'm sorry I missed the Valentine's day mark that this story begins with :(. I am terrible at ratings so I will put this story at M for language reasons mainly. I have many scenes for this one already planned out, I just kind of think about it all the way to work and back in a silent car (My life is thrilling). I won't comment on how long this story will be because at the moment I don't know. I have most of the story in my head and how it should flow and where it will end. As far as Coming Out goes I will probably take that down for now so I don't have yet another unfinished story on my account (I feel terrible about all of them that already exist).

Thank you for the reviews on that story, I may fix it up (I wasn't happy with most of it thus far) and post it again at a later day (long time from now), but I think my focus will be on this story. I also wanted to say sorry for the delays, I know that isn't anything new from me, but I am quite busy as of late with this new job and all the training that is going along with it.

I hope you enjoy the start to this story, I am not quite sure I've done one like this before on my account.

* * *

 _Valentine's day. . ._

 _Four years ago I was convinced this was a dumb holiday only good for chocolates. As I write this, I am watching my Valentine sleep soundly in bed. Her name is Fukuzawa, Yumi and she is the only Valentine I have ever wanted. She single-handedly made this holiday one of my favorites and it isn't just because of these chocolates that I cannot stop eating._

 _We've just made love again. . ._

 _That will be a note for your future self. I know you won't forget this moment so enjoy the memory every now and again. Then again maybe I will forget it, I have so many wonderful memories with her. I never could have guessed that giving her my rosary would lead to real true love. Unfortunately describing what I feel for her wouldn't fit in this diary. Just know that at this very moment you are… bursting…? Your heart is swelling with love for her. That sounds more accurate._

 _She is sleeping in your bed, her clothes are on your floor, but she is covered by the blanket even though she never minds if you see her like this. There are no walls between you and her. She is completely open to you just like you are to her. I just wish I could live in this moment for ever. Unfortunately, we are going out to dinner with our friends later tonight. It's been a yearly thing for so long now that it would feel awkward if we decided that we just wanted a romantic night with each other. We have the rest of the year for that, one night won't hurt us._

 _My only hope for today is that Yumi understands how much she truly means to me. It may sound stupid, but I know I will never love anyone as much as her._

 _I love you Fukuzawa Yumi._

Sachiko took deep breath as she looked at the last thing she wrote for a moment before glancing up to Yumi's still sleeping form. There was a certain serenity she just couldn't quite explain enveloping the room. It was so silent a pin drop could be heard, but Sachiko didn't notice that. She was in a particularly good mood this morning. For some reason, as she had put it, her heart felt like it was swelling with love for the girl in her bed. Almost ready to burst she thought which made her smile and glance back down to the diary still in her hands.

She wondered what she had wrote the year before on this, there had been so many entries since then. Sachiko had made it a note to do an entry daily so that one day she could look back on this and smile. It had been almost two years since she started and though she had already filled one diary, she kept on going and started another which she was getting pretty close to done with. These diaries had become a precious possession to her, one she hoped one day she would share with Yumi. No one had ever read her entries, then again, she was pretty certain Yumi was the only one that knew about the diaries.

It was one of the many secrets the two shared, something Sachiko had remembered noting in one of her entries.

 _Knock, knock, knock…_

Sachiko glanced to the door for a moment before glancing back to Yumi who moved a little the noise. Sachiko quickly closed her diary and left it on the desk she was sitting at before quickly going over to the door hoping to open it before another knock. Even on the way over she couldn't help but note how peaceful of a morning this had been for her so far.

"Good morning," her maid bowed as Sachiko opened the door and smiled. Normally she didn't like the maids bowing for her, but this morning she said nothing, she just simply let the maid in to collect the laundry that she had to.

Of course while her maid did this Sachiko went over and gently sat on her bed where Yumi slept. She didn't want the maid to know Yumi was wearing nothing and she also didn't want Yumi to wake up and accidentally expose that fact.

Thankfully the maid didn't say anything, she just simply collected what she needed and left the room. Just as her bedroom door closed she felt two arms snake around her stomach followed by a head pressed again her back.

"Good morning," Yumi said in a low raspy voice that Sachiko knew was only present when she was still waking up.

"Did you sleep well?" Sachiko asked as Yumi let her go and stretched uncaring that when she shifted she wasn't fully covered anymore. Sachiko couldn't help look for a moment before standing to go lock the door. She didn't want any intrusion if Yumi was going to be up and about like this even if was just to put her clothes on.

Yumi smiled thinking about the night before, "very well," was her simple response. Sachiko could hear by the loving tone in her voice and the bright smile on her face that she had enjoyed the night before just as much as Sachiko had. "How long have you been up?"

Sachiko glanced to her diary for a moment which went unnoticed by Yumi who was climbing out of bed and making her way over to Sachiko's dresser. Sachiko had given her the top drawer exactly for days like this.

"About half an hour maybe," Sachiko said as Yumi pulled a shirt over her head. "I was writing about you in my diary," she admitted as Yumi glanced over Sachiko's desk where the familiar book rested.

"I hope it was good," Yumi said knowing by now that Sachiko never gave her any real specifics. When she turned she saw that Sachiko had that loving smile she knew only she had seen before.

Sachiko thought about those last few lines of hoping Yumi understood how much she truly meant to her. "It's always good when it's about you, one day when I let you read them you will see that."

"I guess I will just have to make do with your love letters."

Sachiko's smile grew as she made her way over to Yumi and placed her hands on her hips before leaning down and giving her that morning kiss neither of them could go without. "What if I told you my diary was essentially a daily love letter?"

Yumi smiled this time. "I guess I would wonder how I was lucky enough to be the one you write about," she said as Sachiko pulled her body close and wrapped her arms around Yumi fully.

"I've always thought that I was the lucky one by having someone so special to write about," Sachiko said as Yumi breathed in that familiar scent that was her girlfriend. Again that feeling of serenity was present, but Sachiko knew she wasn't the only one experiencing it this time.

"Happy Valentine's day," Yumi said a moment later never letting go of Sachiko who just smiled a little.

"Happy Valentine's day," she replied before taking a deep breath and forcing herself to let go of Yumi. "We should probably go get breakfast before it gets cold and you have to leave."

Yumi nodded as she bit her bottom lip with a guilty expression on her face. "I maybe have sent my professor an email saying I wouldn't be there today. I know you told me not to skip class for you, but it's Valentine's day and I wasn't sure we would be up yet and…"

"Good," Sachiko interrupted as Yumi stopped speaking and looked up to her surprised. "I may be selfish, but I wanted to have you to myself all day today and now I do. . . I-I mean if you want to be with me all day that is."

"Sachiko, I want to be with you _always_. I skipped class specifically so I could be with you before dinner," Yumi said as she took Sachiko's hands in her own and smiled. "Let's go get breakfast, then we can decide what we want to do for the rest of the day."

 **Later that night. . .**

Yumi made an awkward face as she looked at herself in the mirror while holding a dress up. She let out a frustrated sigh before turning to Sachiko who was simply watching her with an amused smirk on her face and her laptop in her lap.

"Which one?" Yumi asked as Sachiko shrugged.

"They both look good," she replied as Yumi grumbled.

"You're no help," she complained before looking back at the mirror. "I guess I'll just have to go naked— "

"The blue one," Sachiko said quickly as Yumi glanced back with a victorious smile as Sachiko focused back on her laptop. She knew that would get an answer out of Sachiko. "However, if you did want to be naked, I could call Onee-sama and tell her that you are ill and that I need to be by your side."

"As much as I like the sound of that, I am hungry," Yumi said before picking up the other dress option she had and walking it back into Sachiko's big walk in closet. It had been awhile since Yumi had started keeping clothes there for when they had sleep over's. "I don't have class in the morning though. . ."

Sachiko frowned, "I have to be up at seven for class though."

Yumi thought for a moment as she leaned against the doorway to the walk in closet. "You could always stop by my dorm room after class."

"Will you be awake?" Sachiko asked as Yumi smiled.

"Has that ever stopped you before?"

Sachiko grinned, "I'll be by tomorrow then. For now let's just worry about dinner."

 **Dinner. . .**

Yumi glanced to Sachiko for a moment staring at the way her dress hugged her form so perfectly. She only looked away when she realized Sachiko caught her staring with a glance towards her followed by a grin. They often had silent communication like this when they were alone. Sachiko had become very good at picking up on what Yumi was thinking by the look in her eyes.

"If you keep looking at me like that we may not make it to dinner," Sachiko said as she slowed the car down to stop at a red light.

"Would it surprise any of our friends?" Yumi asked as Sachiko thought for a moment before shaking her head. Their friends had known about their relationship since just before Sachiko graduated high school.

"Do you mind getting a talking to from Onee-sama?" Sachiko asked curiously as Yumi thought for a moment before frowning. Youko always gave them such motherly speeches when they skipped out on things like this for obvious reasons.

"I mean it is Valentine's day," Yumi pointed out as Sachiko tapped a finger on the steering wheel for a moment contemplating whether she should turn around or not.

"My parents are still home, it would be awkward if our dinner was short and we spent the night in my room," Sachiko said as Yumi nodded before thinking.

"We could tell them it was cancelled; it would be the perfect excuse to go back to your house early," Yumi said as Sachiko nodded thinking about how that would play out before being interrupted by her phone ringing.

"I swear she can read our minds from long distance," Sachiko groaned before answering her phone and turning onto the street the restaurant was on.

"Are you and Yumi still coming?" Youko asked as Sachiko thought about it for a moment again. "Oh, never mind I see your car."

Yumi frowned as she could overhear the conversation, she was starting to hate that Youko had a habit of waiting outside for her friends to arrive.

"I guess that ruins those plans," Sachiko said after she had hung up her phone.

"You could skip class tomorrow and I could spend the night again," Yumi said as Sachiko glanced to her and thought about it for a moment. "You haven't skipped a class all year, one won't hurt you, Sachiko. Besides, your grades are about as high as they can get."

"You're right," Sachiko agreed before sighing and giving in. "How about we play a little game. I'll give you until we leave here to convince me that is a good idea. If I am convinced, I will send an email tonight explaining that I won't be there."

Yumi grinned a little, she was pretty certain Sachiko was just playing with her, but then again Sachiko did take school pretty seriously. Actually, in Yumi's mind and most of their friends a little too seriously. She had been known to cancel plans just to study for a test she was basically going to ace without studying.

"I'll play that game," Yumi said before leaning over dangerously closed to Sachiko's ear. Sachiko's entire body tensed before jumping as she felt Yumi's hand on her thigh pressing against the fabric of her dress to go further. "If I win this game, we will play another game later that might resemble this," she finally whispered as sexy as she could before pulling away from Sachiko and stepping out of the car to greet her friends.

Sachiko took a deep breath as she felt her heart race, she knew Yumi had already convinced her. She shook the thought out of her head. If this is what she was going to do to try and convince her she was going to play along for a bit longer.

"You coming?" Yumi asked a minute later startling Sachiko who finally realized she hadn't even taken her hands off the wheel. She grinned again as she saw that very uncharacteristic way that Sachiko was moving. It was almost as if she didn't know what to do, her thought process had halted due to Yumi's teasing. Yumi loved it.

Sachiko finally forced herself to nod before grabbing her things and stepping out of the car. If only her friends knew how torturous Yumi could be sometimes.

"There she is," Youko said as she made her way around the car to give Sachiko a hug. "Are you alright?"

"F-Fine," Sachiko replied with a quick glance to Yumi who just shot her back a smiled before turning her attention back to Yoshino who was going off about something as usual.

"If you insist," Youko said knowing there was probably something going on between Sachiko and Yumi. She just didn't realize what it was, she figured it was an issue they would work out on their own eventually. "Let's get inside, we have a reservation."

All the girls started moving to follow Youko as they entered the restaurant and led to their seats that were waiting for them. Youko made it a point for Sachiko and Yumi to be sitting next to each other. She knew Sei loved to try and sit between them.

As soon as they sat down Yumi leaned over and placed a kiss on Sachiko's cheek getting a few raised eyebrows from the friend's that noticed.

"You seem happy, Yumi-chan," Shimako said referring to the kiss as she sat down across from the two with Noriko.

"It's Valentine's day, I just want to be with Sachiko today," Yumi said hugging Sachiko's arm closest to her. Sachiko smiled, but in reality it was melting her heart especially after she had wrote her entry this morning in her diary.

"Do you two have any plans for after dinner?" Rei asked as Yumi looked to Sachiko with a knowing smile.

"I don't know, do we, Sachiko?" Yumi asked curiously as Sachiko glanced to Yumi for a moment trying hard not to smile herself before looking to Rei.

"I'm not sure yet," she answered simply.

"Sachiko, it's Valentine's day, the day of love, and you are questioning whether or not you are going to spend the night with girlfriend?" Sei asked as if Sachiko was considering committing a crime later on tonight.

"She is right, Sachiko," Youko said to everyone's surprise. "Enjoy your night together, in a few years you will be working tomorrow and unable to have the fun you can tonight."

Sachiko frowned as Youko looked at her with a raised eyerbrow.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" She asked curiously, the happy expression on Sachiko's face had changed in an instant. Even Yumi seemed a little down at the mention of the future.

"Suguru," Yumi replied though anyone who heard her say it could feel the hate behind that name.

Youko shook her head, "I don't know why he is even still a worry. Sachiko, you need to speak with your parents about breaking off the engagement, and soon. You aren't far off from completing college and…"

". . .I know," Sachiko interrupted in that ice princess of a way that she used to always do. "I don't want to talk about him right now. I want to enjoy my Valentine's day with Yumi and my friends."

Youko was about to say something but just let out a frustrated sigh instead. She couldn't wrap her head around why Sachiko still hadn't gone to her parents about this problem. She had been with Yumi for years.

"Let's just order," Yumi said as she picked up her menu. Her friends just simply nodded in response. They could tell Yumi seemed annoyed by even the mere mention of Suguru, but they couldn't blame her. He would soon take Sachiko away from her if Sachiko didn't confront her parents. Unfortunately, Sachiko's reaction to the situation was pretty much always the same.

Once the food came, the tense atmosphere had relaxed and the conversation had started up again as if nothing had happened. The game between Sachiko and Yumi had been forgotten though, if anything Yumi was being pretty quiet until Sachiko made it a point to talk to her.

After a few words from the heart, Yumi was handed a folded piece of paper with her name on it which caused her to smile the way only Sachiko could make her do. It was a love letter and also the key to bringing Yumi's mood back up as she leaned over and kissed Sachiko on the lips uncaring that she had stopped some of her friends from speaking for a moment.

"I love you, Sachiko. Thank you for the letter," Yumi said before leaning in to hug her but also whisper in her ear, "I hope you will let me give you your Valentine's day present tonight."

"I made that decision in the car," Sachiko finally admitted as Yumi pulled back from her with a bit of a surprised expression before seeing Sachiko smiling at her. Before she could speak Yoshino cleared her throat and it became obvious that their friends were watching them.

"Would you two like to share?" Sei asked as Sachiko shook her head.

"Not at all, we were just making plans for the rest of the night," Sachiko replied as Youko smiled excitedly, this was one of those rare times where she wanted Sachiko to miss out on school for something.

"Do tell," Sei said as Sachiko rolled her eyes.

"Just know that it will be better than yours," Sachiko simply responded before taking another bite of her food. All of their friends snickered as Sei tried to fight her own laugh. She could definitely take a joke and instantly found the humor in what Sachiko said over any offense it might cause. Then again that was basically their relationship. From the outside they seemed to be dealing with each other, but their friendship was much deeper than that, especially because Sei was such good friends with Youko.

Sachiko did despise Sei touching Yumi though, she hated that with a passion. She was also sure Sei only did it to get a reaction out of her these days though.

"Well I'm happy for you two. I was going to give you a speech in the parking lots about knowing when to take a day off, Sachiko."

Sachiko glanced to Youko with a smile, she always seemed to have Sachiko and Yumi's happiness in her mind somewhere.

"Your parents won't find out will they?" Shimako asked always playing the role of the worried one.

Sachiko shook her head, "no, unfortunately or fortunately depending how you see it my parents barely realize I still live at home. We're under the same roof and I haven't talked with them in a few days," Sachiko explained as Shimako frowned at the situation a little.

"I'm glad you have Yumi then. It must be lonely at times," Noriko said as Yumi smiled, she knew it made Sachiko happy though. She would often complain during high school when her parents wanted her to do this and that when she got home. Now that she was in college her parents had given her almost too much freedom which was almost all spent on Yumi.

"Well since Yumi pretty much lives at her house, I think she manages," Yoshino said with a roll of her eyes. There had been more than once that Yumi had given a very weak, easily seen through excuse to not hang out. Yoshino was certain that those excuses most definitely involved going to Sachiko's instead.

"I don't live there."

"Not yet," Rei quickly threw in there as Yoshino snickered. "I'm surprised Sachiko doesn't give you part of her closet with how often you are there."

Yumi just simply nodded as if that was a foreign idea to them. She knew they would be made fun of if their friends knew that was already a truth.

"That isn't a bad idea," Sachiko simply said as Yumi looked to her and thought for a moment as if considering it. Yumi knew Sachiko had said that to get the attention off of her, neither of them liked being teased about how close they were.

"Well perhaps that could be your present to Yumi-chan," Youko said before leaning down to the bag she had brought with her. "Speaking of presents though, I brought Valentine's day gifts."

All the girls faces lit up with excitement as Youko lifted the first two heart shaped boxes above the table. Yumi took this as her opportunity to lean over and give Sachiko another unexpected kiss on the cheek. "You'll get your present later, and I promise you will not regret having to wait."

Sachiko blushed deeply as she put her head down a little hoping no one would notice, but she couldn't help notice that grin on Rei's face that told her she had seen everything. Thankfully Yumi had whispered that so Rei hadn't heard it.

Youko handed the chocolates around as the waiter brought them take out boxes and their bill. Sachiko couldn't help but notice that Yumi's hand had been resting on her thigh for a good five minutes now. If only Yumi knew what she was doing to her. Sachiko decided to tease back by place her own hand on Yumi's thigh. She immediately saw Yumi sit up straight before taking a sip of her water and trying to act as if nothing happened.

Sachiko smiled when she noticed her friends start standing up and grabbing their coats. She hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation. She was focused heavily on what Yumi was doing to her and what she was planning on doing to her later.

"Are you coming?" Sachiko asked as Yumi snapped out of her own thoughts and glanced around at their friends. She quickly got up out of her seat and grabbed her coat before taking Sachiko's waiting hand.

"So where are you two headed?" Youko asked once they were all out in the parking lot.

"Home," Sachiko said without thinking about its implications as Sei snickered.

"A good Valentine's day indeed," she said as the rest of the girls laughed and they blushed.

"Give them a break," Youko said though she had been laughing with their friends. "Sachiko and Yumi have been together a long time, it should not be news that they enjoy each other's company at night."

"That is an interesting way to say have sex," Yoshino laughed causing Sei to burst out laughing again. Sachiko just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"We will be leaving now, unlike the rest of you we have a Valentine," Sachiko said getting the last laugh as she turned with Yumi and walked towards the car. Yumi just chuckled at Sachiko's comment before hugging her arm.

 **Later that night. . .**

Yumi laughed as Sachiko pushed her back onto the bed before crawling over top of her and squinting. Yumi knew the look was because of the chocolates she had given Sachiko, well the fact that most of them had been eaten already.

"Laugh it up, you will pay with your body," Sachiko said trying to sound intimidating, which obviously didn't work considering Yumi started to laugh more. That was until the sudden feeling of Sachiko's lips on her neck made Yumi lose her breath and squirm a little.

Sachiko smiled at the sudden silence and the fact that Yumi had completely stopped resisting what was happening.

"That's better," Sachiko teased before kissing her neck one more time and letting her hand wander.

"There is another box of chocolates under your diary," Yumi breathed a minute later as Sachiko stopped kissing her and glanced over towards her desk where her diary rested on top of a heart shaped box.

Sachiko smiled, before turning back to Yumi and kissing her on the lips, "I love you."

Yumi smiled back before wrapping her arms around Sachiko's neck to pull her in for another kiss and the start of their Valentine's night, "I love you too."


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N:_** Hello everyone, I hope you had a good week, I just got done doing two 12 hour days which delayed my posting of this chapter. Anyways, this chapter takes place the morning after the last. I'm jumping right into the story with this one, so I hope you enjoy this chapter. I don't have a set schedule for when I release chapters as I'm sure some of you may know. I just write when I can and for this story at least, I've been going back and tweaking many things about the chapter after writing it all out.

Anyways, I don't have much to say here. I hope you are enjoying the start of this story and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows!

* * *

 _Feb 15_ _th_

 _If you are reading this in the future then you already know if I did or did not fill out the rest of my Valentine's day. Last night was. . . Amazing. If you remember, you should be in class right now, yet here you are at home, watching Yumi sleep peacefully. It was the right decision even if I had any doubts. Onee-sama even told me to take the day off to enjoy my night with Yumi, which I did thoroughly. I will most likely be joining her again after finishing this entry for the morning. I am used to waking up at this time, but I am still tired. It's just not often I can watch her like this, and if I'm truthful, I am scared that I may not be able to much longer._

 _Yumi is my life, for now, but the cruel reminder of my wedding was brought up last night at dinner. That is approaching faster than I would like, and I still haven't told my parents about Yumi. Even Onee-sama was either surprised or upset that I still hadn't told my parents. . . I know I have to, and I want to, but what no one knows is how scared I am. I want nothing more than to be with Yumi, but my father would be so upset if I tried to cancel the marriage. It has been in the works for so long, I just. . . I don't know if I can do that to my family._

Sachiko yawned as she read that last sentence over again. The marriage was still a ways off, but she knew it would be here quicker than expected. It almost didn't seem real that this was her reality, that in two years she would be married to a man she hated. Even worse she might be a mother. . .

Sachiko put her hand to her mouth for a moment not sure if she was going to stomach this thought. It was sickening to know she would be giving her life away. She hoped Yumi would be a part of this life though, she had been an excellent distraction, so much so that Sachiko barely thought about the wedding. To her it was just a fact of life and when it came. . . She shook her head, when it came she knew it wouldn't be fun. She never expected to fall in love beforehand. She never expected to consider herself a lesbian. This wasn't the way things worked in her mind, but the last time she really thought about it, none of it had been true.

She sighed knowing if she started to think into it too much she wouldn't get back to sleep. For now, she had Yumi, and when she crawled into bed and pulled Yumi close, she smiled and forgot all of her worries. Yumi groaned a little before placing her arm over Sachiko's that was wrapped around her stomach before drifting back to sleep without a word.

* * *

 **Later that morning. . .**

 _Knock, knock, knock. . ._

Yumi grumbled a little before her eyes opened at the feeling of Sachiko getting out of bed. She was able to steal a quick glance of Sachiko walking towards the door before she put her head back down on the pillow. She was too tired to get up and it was most likely one of the many maids that came to Sahciko's room daily.

She was barely awake, but she was able to gather by the voices that it most certainly wasn't one of Sachiko's maids. Unfortunately, when she started listening more, she heard something she wished she hadn't.

"She has to go, Suguru will be here soon," the voice said as Yumi blinked once or twice. It was Sachiko's mother and she was kicking her out? Yumi perked up a little even though she didn't move, she was listening as closely as she could.

"Why does she have to leave because of him?" Sachiko asked as Yumi remained still just simply listening. It caused her to smile a little at Sachiko's questioning. Perhaps this was the moment that Sachiko finally stood up for what she wanted.

"Because he is your fiancé, Sachiko and you are an adult. You will be his wife soon, so start acting like you care."

Yumi's breath caught in her throat at the mention of Suguru being Sachiko's fiancé. She didn't like that tone that Sachiko's mother was using either, she had never heard her so direct, it almost felt offensive. Yumi sighed as she waited for Sachiko's response. She hoped the lingering silence was Sachiko building courage.

"You're right," she answered a moment later and Yumi felt her heart sink and her stomach twist. "What time does she need to leave?" Sachiko asked as Yumi bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes, she could feel the tears behind them but she knew she couldn't cry right now. She hated Suguru, she hated him with every fiber of her being. He was taking her girlfriend from her, he was forcing Yumi out of Sachiko's life, he was ensuring that Sachiko's future wouldn't include her. Yumi frantically thought about ways to stop this before quickly remembering that it all relied on Sachiko. . .

Sachiko. . .

Yumi felt a surge of emotion that she wasn't too familiar with. . . Her stomach was turning, her heart was aching, her mind was racing, and she could slowly feel her heart beating faster, this feeling, this was… Anger. Did Sachiko just openly choose him over her right in front of her? Granted, she probably thought Yumi was asleep, but she didn't even put up a fight she just agreed to have Yumi leave when he arrived. She just agreed that Yumi needed to go so she could be with her fiancé. Did she forget how many times she told Yumi she loved her in the past 24 hours. Yumi clenched the sheet tightly before releasing it and finally feeling something else, a completely different emotion from anger.

It was the sadness that came with the anger, but it hit her like a train as a tear rolled down her face. Sachiko crawled back into bed completely unaware of anything happening and wrapped her arm around Yumi again. Yumi instantly jerked free as that anger coursed through her again, "get off me," she said before quickly crawling out of bed and going straight to the dresser to get clothes to wear.

"Yumi, what's wrong?" Sachiko asked as Yumi put her clothes on quickly before stopping and looked at Sachiko baffled.

"What's wrong?" Yumi asked as Sachiko raised an eyebrow clearly confused at the situation. "Really?! You didn't just ask that," Yumi almost yelled as she turned and grabbed her things.

Sachiko quickly sat up and climbed out of bed, "Where are you going?" She could tell now that something was severely wrong.

"Anywhere but here!" Yumi growled as she started towards the door, she didn't care right now if she had left anything behind.

"Yumi wait!" Sachiko cried as Yumi stopped at her bedroom door. "You don't have to leave for another hour," she continued as Yumi turned in her spot and glared at her. She knew this was why Yumi was angry, she must have heard. When Yumi turned around Sachiko saw something she had never seen before, Yumi was visibly angry, the fire in her eyes was enough to silence Sachiko.

"How dare you, do you really. . ." Yumi bit her tongue and took a deep breath, she might regret what she really wanted to say. Sachiko looked at her worriedly which did chip away at Yumi's anger a little, but then she thought again how easily Sachiko tossed her aside. "I hope your life with Suguru is everything you ever wanted, you two deserve each other," she finally said in the most hateful way she could possibly muster before turning and leaving the room, slamming the door behind her. She could care less who heard it, she had to leave this house now. She didn't have the heart to face what she just did to Sachiko, not right now at least.

Yumi quickly made her way out of the house and down the long driveway before being let out by the guards and making her way down the sidewalk towards the bus stop. It was a cold day, but at least the wind wasn't terrible. She didn't even know when the bus was coming, but she didn't care, she was too upset and hurt to care.

 _Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt. . ._

Yumi grabbed her phone out of her pocket and looked at the screen as she saw her favorite picture of her and Sachiko together pop up on the screen. She immediately hit the red button to hang up on her before tossing it back in her pocket. Just as she did, she saw the bus come around the corner and as she got on, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket again. She sat down towards the back of the bus with a deep breath. Thankfully the bus was basically empty at this time because she wasn't sure she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears.

 _Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt. . ._

Yumi growled as she grabbed out her phone and answered it, "what do you want!?" She snapped as she felt that surge of anger again.

"I. . ."

"Youko-sama," Yumi said simply as she took another deep breath trying to calm herself. "Wait, why are you calling me?" Yumi asked, she figured Sachiko might be behind this, then again that would probably be too quick for Sachiko to have done by now.

"Well I was going to leave you a message, requesting you call me to tell me about your Valentine's night," Youko said with a hint of excitement towards the end. "I figured you and Sachiko would still be sleeping."

There was a long pause on the phone before Yumi spoke again. She had half a mind to tell Youko what she wanted to tell Sachiko, but she knew once it was said that she wouldn't be able to take it back. She knew she was angry and not thinking straight, but right now she felt Sachiko deserved it.

"Last night was great, I think," Yumi said trying to keep her cool. It didn't work too well as her tone was full of venom. "Unfortunately, this morning, Sachiko made it clear who she wanted to be with. . . It wasn't me," she said as her voice finally cracked and the tears started coming.

"She did what?!" Youko asked as Yumi sniffled, she didn't care now if Youko knew she was crying, she couldn't hold it back.

"I was given an hour to leave because Suguru was coming over," Yumi said as Youko remained silent, she figured Yumi might need a moment to collect herself, her voice was laden with emotion. "She didn't even try and protest. . . She just agreed that I needed to go because she was his fiancé and needed to start acting like she cared. . . She doesn't even care about me."

Youko took a deep breath, she wanted to throw her phone right now. All she could think about was the storm that was coming towards Sachiko. She couldn't do this, not after everything she had shared with Youko throughout high school and college. She knew just how much these two loved each other, at least, she thought she did. "Where are you now, Yumi?" She asked knowing she had to focus on the situation at hand. She would deal with Sachiko soon.

"I'm on the bus," Yumi said as she glanced out the window. "I recognize where I am, I should be back to my dorm room in about twenty minutes."

"Are you going to be alright?" Youko asked knowing it was a stupid question, but she was truly worried about Yumi. If she said yes, it might give Youko time to go slap Sachiko around until she came to her senses about the stupid decision she had just made.

"No, I don't think so," Yumi said before feeling her body shake a little. She had to take deep breaths to try and calm herself and she knew that was only going to work for so long.

"Do you have any classes today?" Youko asked knowing that if she did, she would probably skip them. She was going to tell her to anyways.

"No, but I do tomorrow," Yumi said as Youko sighed, this depressing tone coming out of Yumi was new and heartbreaking. She was finally able to see what could possibly crush Yumi's usually unbreakable cheery attitude. Youko shook her head, she couldn't even fathom what Sachiko was thinking.

"That is good at least," Youko said as the line went silent, she could tell Yumi wasn't entirely in the mood to talk right now. "Listen, why don't you make it back to your dorm room and plug your phone in and make sure the ringer is on. I won't tell anyone what happened, but I want to check up on you later if you will allow."

"That would be fine, but Sachiko has been trying to get ahold of me," Yumi said flatly as Youko thought for a moment. She couldn't blame Yumi for not answering the phone, she wouldn't either at this moment.

"Let me handle her, if she keeps bothering you throughout the day, call me. I will set her straight," Youko said before getting a surprise from Yumi.

"Don't be too harsh on her. . . I already was," Yumi said thinking about what she had said earlier. It had been on her mind since she left the room and though she was still upset, she did somewhat regret saying what she had.

Youko just simply frowned, just by the sound of Yumi's voice she could tell she was devastated. "Don't worry, Yumi. I am just going to make sure she doesn't keep calling until you want to talk to her."

"Thanks," Yumi replied before taking a deep breath.

"Well you just remember to plug in your phone and turn the ringer on. I will deal with Sachiko and you call if you need anything, especially a shoulder to cry on," Youko said with a heavy heart, she never really thought this day would come. She couldn't jump to conclusions though, she still didn't fully know the situation, but it didn't sound good and she was already upset at Sachiko.

"I will and thank you," Yumi said as Youko said her goodbyes and hung up. Yumi watched as her phone screen went black. She could see her reflection when it did and she could easily tell that she had been crying by the redness surrounding her eyes. She simply pulled the hood of her sweater up and was thankful that the sweater was slightly bigger on her. She didn't want to walk to her dorm with people giving her looks, she just wanted to go lay in bed and let it all out, which is exactly what she did when the bus came to a stop.

Yumi pushed open her dorm room door and stepped inside before shutting the door and dropping her stuff where she stood. She glanced around her room for a moment until her eyes landed on a shirt that Sachiko had left resting on the back of her desk chair. Within moments she felt her breath hitch and the tears start flowing. She quickly went over and grabbed the t-shirt before flopping onto her bed and pulling the shirt close. She could smell Sachiko on it and though it was oddly comforting it was just as painful and the tears really started falling.

* * *

 **Back at the Ogasawara mansion. . .**

Sachiko held her eyes shut tight, she knew the moment she opened them the tears would come. She was holding onto Yumi's heart shaped box that she had left. There had already been a few spots on the heart shaped box that had deformed a little from the few tears that had already escaped. She had tried to call Yumi twice but realized she wouldn't be answering. She wanted to speak to her, she had to make this right. Then again, she didn't even know where to start.

" _I hope your life with Suguru is everything you ever wanted, you two deserve each other. . ."_

The words played over and over in Sachiko's head, she knew Yumi didn't like Suguru. She knew Yumi hated him and she did too, but. . . Sachiko shook her head, Yumi was right, she didn't put up any fight towards her mother. She was about to kick Yumi out so Suguru could be with her. Sachiko set the heart shape box down on the bed beside her and covered her eyes, no longer able to contain those tears.

 _Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt. . ._

Sachiko quickly glanced over to her phone before answering it, she didn't even check to see who it was.

"Yumi, I'm so sorry," She spoke instantly as Youko cleared her throat.

"I think it's a little too late for that, Sachiko," Youko said as Sachiko took a deep breath. By what Youko said, Sachiko could only figure that she had already talked with Yumi. "So what do I do?"

Youko remained silent for a moment before speaking, it was evident she was angry with Sachiko. "I don't know, Sachiko."

Sachiko went quiet, she wasn't sure what to say.

"Tell me what happened," Youko said as Sachiko sighed before recalling the events of that morning and telling them the best she remembered them to Youko.

After a long pause Youko finally spoke. ". . .You idiot."

Sachiko just simply nodded, those words were a pretty good explanation of how she felt right now.

"You abandonded her for, Suguru, a man you supposedly despise and you expect her to forgive you?" Youko asked as Sachiko still remained silent which probably wasn't the best choice as Youko could really feel her anger rising. "You kicked out the one person you say you love so that you can be with someone you hate? I can't say I feel sorry for you; you deserve everything that is happening."

Youko paused for a moment as she finally heard Sachiko crack and start crying.

"Yumi-chan has done nothing but love you with every fiber of her being and you returned that love. I have been telling you since you two got together that you need to break off this stupid wedding arrangement. You don't even like Sugu. . . Well I guess you do actually like him. I don't know why else you would choose him over Yumi."

"Don't say that," Sachiko cried as Youko took a deep breath, she knew she was cutting deep with these words.

"What other reason would you do something like this? Sachiko, I don't know if you've been paying attention, but your wedding is coming. If you want Yumi in your life, you need to break this stupid thing off, we've all been telling you it. Instead you kicked her out of your life so you can hang on his arm and be a dutiful bride to be. I'm not sure you deserve her love after treating her like that."

"Onee-sama. . ."

"Don't you even dare try to make me feel bad for you, Sachiko. You're lucky I don't take my rosary back and let you live your miserable life with him."

These words really seemed to hit Sachiko hard, which made it hard for Youko to speak. She wasn't sure where this venom was coming from, but she couldn't apologize, Sachiko needed the hard truth.

"I'm sorry," Sachiko finally cried out as Youko just shook her head.

"I don't care, if you're sorry, Sachiko. Feeling sorry won't change the fact that you decided to be with him over Yumi."

 _Knock, knock, knock. . ._

Youko remained silent as she heard a voice in the background, someone was talking to Sachiko.

Sachiko sniffled after the door had closed in the background. There was a very long pause before Sachiko finally took a deep breath and spoke. "I have to go. . . Suguru is here," she said as Youko felt something in her head snap.

"Oh wonderful, now you can go be all over him while I try to fix Yumi's broken heart. I don't know how I'm going to convince her that you aren't a total backstabbing bitch when you're with him at a time like this!" Youko practically screamed as she stopped herself from throwing her phone. She was absolutely livid right now.

Sachiko gasped at the name, but Youko wasn't done.

"Don't call me or her today, if you do I will come over and rip that rosary off your neck and give the smack that you deserve. I don't care who is there."

"I. . ."

"Don't say anything to me! I just want you to think about how terrible Yumi feels as you hang off his arm being a good business asset for those disgusting pigs you call your family. Have a nice. . . No, you don't deserve that. I hope your day is as horrible as Yumi's."

 _Click._

Sachiko tried to breath, but it just wasn't happening the way it should. Her breath got caught in her throat, she was halfway between crying and being totally in shock.

"Sachiko, your fiancé is here," her mother said in a sing song way as Sachiko wiped her eyes and stood from her bed putting on that fake smile she had learned all throughout her life.

"Great. . ."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Hello everyone, I hope you're having a good day. I jump around a bit in this chapter, moving forward there might be a day or two gap, but I will label it like I am doing in this chapter. I hope you enjoy this one, I don't really have much to say except that things might get a little hectic soon. I do contracted work right now (dislike it) and will be searching for something relatively soon here. I will try and keep the updates coming around this speed though.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Youko took a deep breath as she knocked on the door and waited for any sound. She could hear a muffled, "come in," from the other side of the door. Youko frowned immediately as soon as she entered the room. The sight of Yumi, eyes of full tears, and wearing one of Sahciko's favorite shirts killed her inside.

Without any words Youko set her bags down on the desk and went over to give Yumi a big hug. She patted Yumi's back before pulling away from the hug and trying to smile for her.

"Has she tried to call you?" Youko asked as Yumi glanced to her phone and shook her head.

"No," she sniffled, "I don't know if I should be upset or hurt by it either. I want her to call, but I don't want to talk to her. I love her and I hate her right now, I just. . ." Yumi stopped and took a deep breath as another wave of emotion hit her.

"Shh," Youko said as she pulled Yumi close again and tried to calm her. "Don't worry that she hasn't called you, I made sure she wouldn't."

"What did you say?" Yumi asked knowing that Sachiko wouldn't' always listen to Youko. If she wasn't calling, then Youko must have said something to make her think twice about it.

"What she needed to hear," Youko simply responded before standing from the bed and going over to the bag she had brought. "I stopped on my way here and got you something to eat. I figured you probably hadn't eaten all day."

"You weren't mean to her were you?" Yumi asked knowing that Youko was sometimes too overprotective of her and Sachiko. She certainly wasn't one to sugar coat things when they needed to be said.

Youko sighed, her attempt at changing the subject hadn't worked. "Yumi, I said what I thought was best for you."

Yumi looked at Youko worriedly, but said nothing.

Youko finally gave in, she knew she couldn't lie to Yumi, especially when she was heartbroken and looking at her with those teary eyes. "Yumi, the truth hurts, and Sachiko desperately needs to see that right now. I told her how it was, and got a little upset during the process. I don't care if Sachiko is mad at me after our conversation. She is lucky I didn't go over there and knock some sense into her."

Yumi swallowed, she could hear the almost aggravated tone in Youko's voice as she talked about Sachiko.

"I'm sorry, I know you told me to go easy on her," Youko said not wanting any tension between her or Yumi. It was the last thing Yumi needed right now.

"I hope she is alright," Yumi frowned as Youko took a deep breath. She couldn't believe how worried Yumi was right now, if it were here, she was would be beyond furious. "She isn't as strong as she likes to think."

"Strong…no. Stubborn and stupid, very," Youko said as Yumi sighed a little. Youko shook her head, "I'm sorry. I know I'm being mean to her; I just don't know any other way to get through to her. . . It also doesn't help her case that I see a heartbroken girl that means a lot to me destroyed over her and wearing her shirt."

Yumi glanced down to her shirt. She had originally been using it for comfort, but eventually she had put it on.

"If she could see you right now she would kick herself," Youko said as Yumi looked up and smiled weakly. "I don't know if she really understands what she is doing right now, but she will, it just may take a little time," she explained before turning back to the bag and grabbing out a takeout container.

"What if she doesn't and the wedding happens?" Yumi asked causing Youko to pause for a moment. That wasn't a reality she was willing to accept, though she realized she might be forced to.

"There is no way I will let her make that mistake. There is no way you will either, right?" Youko asked as Yumi looked down to the floor for a moment. "She loves you, Yumi. She loves you more than I think you know, which is why I'm upset that this happened. I have no idea what she was thinking, because I know that you are the only one who has a place in her heart. I imagine it's the same old excuse that she cannot hurt her family by doing this."

"Why can't she understand that her family doesn't care about her by making her do this?" Yumi asked a moment later as Youko handed her one of the take-out boxes. It was a fair point, if they were just shipping her off like this to be married to someone, how much could they really care about what she wanted?

"Have you mentioned this to her?" Youko asked as Yumi shook her head.

"No," Yumi replied with a sigh. "I never wanted to hurt her by saying something negative about her family. . . I don't include Suguru in that family picture, if you're wondering."

Youko just simply gave a nod knowing that Yumi had a publicly known hate for that man.

"She needs to hear that, Yumi."

Yumi paused for a moment looking at the now open takeout box in her lap. She knew Youko was right, but it still didn't feel right telling the girl she loved most in the world that her parents didn't care for her. Especially because she knew it wasn't true. Sachiko's parents obviously cared for her, but then again if that were the absolute truth, they wouldn't be making her do this.

"Someone should tell her then," Yumi just simply responded before taking a bite of her food. Her thoughts were conflicted on this.

"No, Yumi," Youko said as Yumi glanced up to her. "You need to tell her. Sachiko will hear me and the rest of our friends, but she will only really listen to you. . . You have her wrapped around your finger, Yumi. You don't need to suggest that her parents hate her. Just ask her how much they really care about her by making her do this. We need to make her realize what she is losing."

"I don't know if I can do that," Yumi frowned already thinking of the hurt expression on Sachiko's face after telling her something like that.

Youko sighed, she wasn't sure how Yumi could be so hurt and yet so forgiving. She figured it had to be partially because Yumi was such a softie at heart, but she knew the real reason was that it was Sachiko they were talking about. As much as Yumi had stolen Sachiko's heart, Sachiko had done the same to her. "Then we will have to think of something. For now, eat something, and don't even tell me you're not hungry. I know you well enough to know you haven't eaten today."

Yumi just nodded in response before looking down at her food. "Thank you for being here."

Youko smiled, "I wouldn't be anywhere else at a time like this. . . Except for maybe knocking some sense into that girlfriend of yours."

 **Later that night. . .**

Sachiko took a deep breath as she towards her feet and watched the water from the shower head go towards the drain. She wasn't sure how long she had been in here, but she had finally been able to stop crying. She wasn't sure she was going to make it through the day without breaking, but she did. Suguru was gone now and here she was alone with her thoughts.

Her mind had only been revolving around Yumi today and the fact that she had to ignore these thoughts to be with Suguru was sickening at times. She could only imagine what Yumi was feeling right now. If it was half as bad as what she felt, then she knew it was absolutely terrible. She also knew that all of this was her fault. She had been the one to agree that Yumi should leave, she had been the one to be with Suguru today instead of her, she was the one that was in the wrong. It had been on her mind all day.

She was just thankful that no one could hear the shower from the hallway outside her room. Then again her parents didn't really bother her at night much. Her mother would have questioned why she had been in the shower for so long. It was at first so she could cry without being disturbed, but now there was just an odd comfort in the warm water hitting her skin.

She didn't know what to do, she could tell her parents and then tell Yumi, but her father had seemed so excited talking about the wedding today. She shook her head, she just wished this whole problem would be resolved, she didn't' want to think about it, but the feeling in her chest after hearing such things from Yumi couldn't be ignored.

She knew she deserved those venomous words, she knew she had hurt Yumi, she knew that she couldn't take back what happened. The thought was enough for her to feel a tear coming again which she quickly wiped away. She needed to go to sleep soon, she had class in the morning and she knew if she broke down again she would remain in the shower.

She slowly stood up and turned the water off before stepping out and trying hard not to glance to her phone that was on the bathroom counter. She wanted so badly for the notification light to be blinking, but like she thought, it wasn't. Yumi had no reason to talk to her right now.

Once out of the bathroom she made her way over to her bed and plugged her phone in to charge overnight before looking over towards her diary. She stared at it for what must have been five minutes before finally shaking her head and laying down with her back turned towards the book. She didn't want to remember this day, she wished it never happened.

 **The next morning. . .**

Youko's eyes popped open instantly as she sat up and looked around before remembering she was sleeping on Yumi's dorm room floor. She blinked once or twice before looking over at Yumi, she was still wearing Sachiko's shirt. Honestly, she was just glad to see that Yumi was sleeping, she had heard some sniffles before she fell asleep.

She yawned before glancing over and seeing that the movie they were watching was sitting at the menu screen, it must have played through and just been sitting there all night. Youko wiped her eyes before looking for her phone.

 _Knock, knock, knock. . ._

Youko glanced up to the door before looking over at Yumi who didn't' seem to notice. Thankfully, whoever was knocking didn't do it very hard. That said, she got up and opened the door before they could knock again.

"Youko-sama. . .?" Yoshino asked with a look of pure confusion on her face.

"Yoshino-san, good morning," Youko said as she stepped out of the room and closed the door. "I'm afraid Yumi is still asleep."

"Oh, that's fine. . . So, why are you here?" Yoshino asked curiously as Youko remained silent for a moment.

"I was watching a movie with Sachiko and Yumi last night and it was too late when it ended so I slept on the floor," Youko explained.

"Well you tell her when she wakes up to invite me and Rei next time. I swear she forgets we are on campus when Sachiko is over," Yoshino said with a roll of her eyes.

"I will tell her; you have a good morning."

"You too," Yoshino said as Youko went back into the room and sighed wondering if she had made the right decision. Then again, Yoshino would have either burst in here to talk with Yumi or drove to Sachiko's to murder her for hurting Yumi. Lying was probably best, Yumi nor Sachiko needed a hot headed Yoshino bothering them right now.

Speaking of which, she needed to figure out how to approach Sachiko's side of this problem. She knew full well she couldn't ignore her even if she wanted to right now. Actually she kind of just wanted to slap her right now, and she probably deserved it. She knew that wouldn't solve anything though except making her feel a little better.

"Is everything alright?"

Youko glanced up and saw Yumi looking at her from her bed. She just simply nodded before making her way over to the computer desk chair that she was sitting in the night before. "Everything is fine, Yoshino just stopped by. You were asleep then, I didn't tell her anything."

"Thanks," Yumi said knowing just as well as Youko how upset Yoshino will get when she finds out.

"What are you going to do today, Yumi?"

Yumi shook her head before frowning, "well Sachiko usually comes over but. . . I don't know."

"Hey, why don't we go get breakfast. I'll take you anywhere you want, my treat," Youko said seeing the emotions that Yumi was feeling clear as day by her facial expression. She wanted her to eat and hopefully take her mind off it a little.

 **Sachiko's morning. . .**

Sachiko blinked a few times before looking over at the empty spot next to her. She considered it Yumi's spot, because that is what it was to her. Even now she slept on her side of the bed. The feeling that Yumi might not be there anymore weighed heavily on her.

She took a deep breath before sitting up with her feet now on the floor. She had to write a diary entry, it was a wonderful stress relief for her.

 _Dear Diary,_

 _I didn't make an entry yesterday because I am hoping to forget it. I did something stupid, something incredibly stupid. I may have very well lost Yumi-chan because of it. I'm afraid to admit that I probably deserve it. She won't even talk to me right now. I wish I could go back to yesterday morning and tell my mother what I needed to. . ._

 _Easier said than done, I suppose. I know if I could go back I wouldn't have changed anything, I would still be right here writing this. Even Onee-sama is upset with me, which is deserved. Then again, maybe all of this was for the better. The wedding is coming and I would be hurting her anyways once that came. Perhaps, I was just born to be that man's wife. Perhaps, this is the way things are supposed to be. . ._

 _I wish they weren't though._

Sachiko closed the diary before taking a deep breath and wiping her right eye, she hadn't even realized she had begun to tear up. The cold reality of her loveless life could always do this. She wasn't sure how she would make it, especially after having been with Yumi, but she knew she would have to for her parent's sake.

With that in mind, Sachiko placed the diary back down on her desk before making her way out of her room and down towards the dining area. Once she arrived she saw her mother sitting at the long table with a maid refilling her glass with water.

"Sachiko, you're up early and you came down without me requesting you," Sayako said as Sachiko took a seat across from her mother. For a moment, there was a silence between the two. Sachiko didn't have anything to say, but Sayako was reading her like a book. "Something is wrong, that is why you are up early."

Sachiko's eyes rose from the table up to her mother as she raised an eyebrow trying to figure out how she could tell. "Nothing is wrong, I'm just sleepy."

"Sachiko, you had this same look about you all day yesterday, something is wrong."

Sachiko sighed knowing her mother could see right through her. She knew Yumi and her mother could do that. "I'm just not feeling very well."

Sayako stared at Sachiko for a moment not saying anything.

"I promise, I just don't feel good," Sachiko said again hoping her mother would drop the questioning looks.

"If that is the case why don't you go back to bed, I can have breakfast brought down to you," Sayako said as Sachiko went to say something but instead nodded. Her mother had just given her a way out of this conversation. "I'll give Yumi-chan a call too. I know she loves to keep you company when you aren't feeling well."

"No, don't do that," Sachiko said quickly as Sayako raised an eyebrow before sighing, the look on Sachiko's face was telling a completely different story now.

"Alright, so you are feeling fine. Yumi-chan is the problem."

"I don't. . . I can't talk about it," Sachiko said before rising from her seat at the table. "I would appreciate if you stayed out of it. I am handling this issue on my own."

Sayako just remained silent as Sachiko took her leave and headed back down towards her room.

Once Sachiko was in her room she couldn't handle it anymore and grabbed her cellphone. She quickly dialed Youko's number and sat listening to the dial tone.

"I told you not to call," Youko answered as Sachiko's heart stopped. She didn't' expect Youko to answer Yumi's phone.

"Let me talk to her."

"No," Youko replied firmly as Sachiko felt her heart sink a little.

"How am I supposed to fix this if I can't even talk to her?" Sachiko asked as Youko thought for a moment, Sachiko made a fair point.

"She is upset Sachiko. She is hurt, I found her crying herself to sleep last night wearing your shirt. She is destroyed Sachiko, and right now I'm not convinced you actually care. The last thing I will let you do is apologize and make up to her just so you can pull this little stunt again before the wedding you still haven't called off. You made the choice to be with him yesterday, now really fix this Sachiko, or get used to a life without Yumi."

 _Click._

Sachiko felt a sudden surge of anger through her arms as she threw her phone uncaring if it broke wherever it hit. She was mad that Youko kept doing that to her, but mostly she was mad at herself, because Youko was right. There was going to have to be a big change for this to work. She couldn't hurt Yumi like this again.

She glanced to her diary quick before getting up and grabbing it to make one last final note for the day.

 _I am going to tell my mother first._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Hello everyone, I hope you are having a good start of your week. I wasn't sure I was going to post this one quite yet, but I am fairly happy with where it is at. I will be start working on the next one tomorrow or the next day. I am nearing the end of an intensive training program at work (their coding bootcamp of sorts) and will need to be working on a website final project. I don't think this will interfere with my time too much, but we will see.

Anyways, that's the quick update, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and as always thank you for the reviews and PM's.

* * *

Sachiko took a deep breath as she read the line repeatedly in her diary. She was going to tell her mother first. She knew that would probably be the best way to approach this. She knew it was her father that ultimately needed to hear it, but she always had an easier time speaking with her mother.

That said she didn't even know where to begin. Did she just go back down to the dining room and casually tell her mother she is a lesbian? She shook her head, she wanted this to be a private thing for now. She wasn't sure how her mother would react, especially after yesterday when she was told to act more like Suguru's fiancé. Perhaps her mother did want her to marry Suguru. More than likely though it was just the proper thing to do. She remembers hearing something about being a proper wife, but none of that really stuck with her seeing as though she was with Yumi at the time.

There was nothing proper about her relationship with Yumi. They had fun, they did what they felt like, and at the end of the day the, "I love you," shared between the two was always genuine. There was no housewife watching the kids, there was no supporting the business the best you could by marrying your kid off before they even knew what marrying was. Sachiko shook her head; she knew that wasn't the lifestyle she wanted.

She wanted to finish school, she wanted to be there when Yumi did, she wanted to get married shortly after that, but only if Yumi was her bride. Sachiko blinked as she felt tears roll down her cheeks, that life sounded so wonderful, it was truly everything she ever wanted. She hadn't even realized how she was feeling fully while lost in her thoughts. Right now, where she sat, she was about as far as she could get from that life. Yumi was gone by her doing, and Suguru was closer also by her doing. If there was such a thing as rock bottom she was currently sitting at it.

Those words Youko had said on the phone about her actually doing something played over in her head. She knew Youko was right, she had to do something, she couldn't just sit and hope this would go away. She needed Yumi to know she was going to try though. She was worried Yumi was too upset with her, she wanted to talk to her, to tell her that she was going to do something.

The fact that she hadn't been able to speak with her was driving her crazy. She needed a way to speak with her, she needed to communicate with her, she needed Yumi to know that she regretted what she did.

A letter.

Youko wouldn't have to know about it and Sachiko could push it under Yumi's dorm room door. Sachiko was finally able to smile a little since Yumi had left her the other day. She was feeling confident and got up to start writing her letter which ended up taking her much longer than she thought it would.

She wanted the letter to convey everything she felt, she needed Yumi to know that she was miserable, but mostly disgusted with who she had become. She was torn over the fact that Yumi was gone, sleeping last night was practically impossible, but every time she felt sad, she couldn't help but remember talking with Youko. Even though what she said was harsh, it was reality that Sachiko had pushed Yumi away. It was reality that she was in this situation solely because of her actions and every time that came to mind she couldn't help but just be furious with herself.

She needed Yumi to know that, she also needed her to know that she was committed to fixing this and hoped that Yumi could find a way to possibly forgive her. She hoped that this letter she wrote conveyed everything she needed to, because Yumi ultimately needed to know that Sachiko didn't want a life without Yumi by her side.

 **Later that morning. . .**

Yoshino knocked on Yumi's door a few times before glancing to Rei who had come with her. After a few moments of silence, Yoshino knocked again before finally seeing the door open.

"Your dorm is tiny; how does it take you so long to get to the door?" Yoshino asked as Yumi lifted her head and looked at her.

"Yumi, are you alright?" Rei asked noticing the exhausted look that Yumi had.

Unfortunately, Yoshino's question was a little more direct, "Sachiko a little rough in bed?"

Rei slapped the back of Yoshino's head much like Youko did with Sei, but they were both silenced when they saw Yumi struggling to hold back what looked like tears.

"Yumi. . .?" Rei asked again as Yumi finally shook her head and wiped her eyes. "Let's step inside, no one else needs to see you like this," Rei suggested as Yumi nodded and opened her door fully for the two to enter.

"What happened?" Yoshino asked as Yumi sat down on the edge of her bed before sighing.

"I think I broke up with, Sahciko," Yumi finally said after a minute's silence.

"You did what?!" Yoshino asked completely shocked by the words that had just been spoken. "Alright you have some explaining to do, so start talking! I swear if she did anything to you, I will go over there and. . ."

Rei placed a hand on Yoshino's shoulder, "Yoshino, you won't go anywhere first off and second you haven't even let Yumi talk yet. That temper is going to get you in trouble one day."

Yoshino just took a deep breath, leave it to Rei to calm her down as fast as she got angry.

Once Rei was satisfied that Yoshino would give Yumi a chance to talk, she turned to Yumi who just nodded.

Yumi explained everything that happened that morning. She made it a point that Sachiko had agreed Yumi needed to leave for Suguru to be there instead. She told them how Youko had been helping, but was busy today. She told them about Sachiko calling yesterday and what Youko had said.

"I don't think she is handling this right," Rei said bluntly as Yumi and Yoshino looked at her. "How are you supposed to solve your issue with Sachiko if she won't let you two talk to each other? I mean, I agree that Sachiko needs to understand what she is doing. I also understand that trying to talk sense to her when it comes to that family of hers is like trying to tell a rock to move sometimes."

"What do you think I should do? I want to talk to her, I want to be with her, but I know that if she chooses Suguru that I can't. I won't be some side thing to her, we either have each other or nothing," Yumi said as Rei nodded.

"I think you need to talk to her. I understand Youko is trying to help, but I think you need to talk to her and I think you need to make it clear that if she chooses Suguru again you will be nothing more than a friend to her."

Yumi put her head down a little, she didn't' even like to think that having Sachiko as just a friend was a possibility. "I think you're right. I need to talk with her."

"Before you do that, why don't we go get some breakfast?" Rei asked guessing that Yumi probably hadn't eaten yet. "It will help calm your nerves."

"Really?" Yoshino asked as Rei nudged her in the side with her elbow. She had no idea if it was true, but she wanted Yumi to eat.

"That sounds good, it will give me time to think about what I want to say," Yumi said with a small smile.

 **-X-X-**

Sachiko took a deep breath as she put the car in park and glanced at the clock. It was just past two in the afternoon now, Yumi had math at this time so it was the perfect opportunity to slip the letter under her door.

She glanced over the letter one last time happy with its contents before stepping out of the car and heading towards the dorms. It felt weird coming here and knowing that she wouldn't see Yumi. It was always such a fun time for her when she did come here. She had Yumi's class schedule memorized for when she did. There had become a kind of expectation that Sachiko would visit Yumi after class. Sachiko went to this college, but preferred living at home. That said she stayed in Yumi's dorm a lot, usually once or twice a week at least.

This week that wouldn't be happening, this was one of the days she usually did stay too which wasn't sitting right with her.

She shook her head of any thought of staying as she approached Yumi's door. She quickly glanced over her letter again just to make sure before kneeling and sliding the letter under Yumi's door. Once it was under she just stood there for a moment. She hoped Yumi would see it. She frowned now wondering if this was a bad idea. How would she know if Yumi got it?

Fortunately, her answer came when the door unexpectedly opened a minute later.

For a minute both girls remained silent. Sachiko didn't know what to say but she could see that Yumi looked miserable and she wondered if she looked the same. She knew she did, she had seen herself in the rear view mirror in her car. Once she noticed Yumi holding the piece of paper she cleared her throat.

"I-I wrote you a letter. I'm sorry, Yumi. I. . . You have every right to hate me, but. . . The letter tells you everything. I know you don't want to talk to me so I will just leave," Sachiko said feeling her own emotions get the best of her. It was hard seeing Yumi like this and not being able to do anything about it. It was hard knowing that she was the reason that Yumi was like this.

"Did you break it off?" Yumi asked bluntly as Sachiko raised an eyebrow for a moment before sighing and shaking her head a little.

"No, not yet, I—"

Yumi simply tore the letter in half before opening the door more and tossing it in the garbage for Sachiko to see. Sachiko looked at her shocked before Yumi closed the door on her without saying another word.

"Yumi," Sachiko said as she felt her heart break in two. "Yumi, please don't do this," Sahciko cried now fully aware that tears were starting to fall. "Yumi, I love you. Please, I'm so sorry, I messed up. I'm going to tell them, I'm going to tell my parents, I promise."

"If you loved me you wouldn't have picked Suguru," was all Sachiko heard from the other side of the door.

"Yumi, please let me explain. I wrote everything in that letter, it says everything," Sachiko said as she rested her head on Yumi's door crying hard.

Yumi could hear the sobs through the door and though all she wanted to do was open the door and comfort Sachiko, she knew she had to read this letter. She had already pulled the letter out of the empty trash can she had thrown it in. She desperately wanted to read what was in it, she needed to see it, but she also wanted Sachiko to realize how hurt she truly was over this.

Being able to hear Sachiko cry from the other side of the door wasn't helping anything though. Yumi wasn't sure she would be able to ignore her much longer.

"Please go away," Yumi said one more time as she wiped her own eyes.

"I can't," Sachiko replied with a sniffle, she didn't' even care that some people were looking at her. She didn't care that people could see her crying this hard outside Yumi's door. "I won't leave until you know how I really feel."

Yumi just simply remained silent before hearing Sachiko sniffle again.

"I am not leaving until you know."

Yumi decided not to say anything, but she could hear the sound of Sachiko's coat against the wall, she imagined Sachiko was just sitting in the hallway. She would be fine for now, she wanted to read the letter sitting on her desk now. She pushed the two halves of the paper together so that it was readable again.

 _Yumi. . ._

 _I hope you are reading this, I hope you found it. I have started this letter over so many times because I want it to say everything that you need to know. I will be dropping this off while you are in class today. I know you don't want to see me and since you won't talk to me, I just have to hope you find it._

 _Every moment since you left. . . Since I foolishly agreed that you should leave, you've been on my mind. I can't not think about you. I can't not think about how much of an idiot I am. Even right now as I write this, I can't help but think about how stupid I am. I am asking for forgiveness, but I know I don't deserve it. I know I don't deserve you._

 _I need to try though because you are the only thing in my life that matters. . . I know that may be hard to believe after what I did. I don't expect you to believe it, and I certainly don't expect you to just forget what happened. I will live with that ugly stain for the rest of my life and I will regret it every single day, especially if you can't forgive me._

 _I've decided though, I want to tell my parents about you. I want to come out to them and break off this engagement. I want to be with you and only you._

 _Whether you still want to be with me though isn't my choice. I can understand if you don't, but either way I want to tell them. I want them to know how in love I am with you and only you. I want them to know how much I despise Suguru and the fact that they want me to marry him. I want them to know that no matter what they want, I will be with you._

 _At the time of you reading this letter, none of this has happened yet, which probably doesn't surprise you. This has been the problem since we started talking about breaking off this engagement. I always say I'm going to do something, but I cannot. This time though, I am serious, but I am also seriously scared. I want to be with you, but my family doesn't care about me, Yumi. If I tell them I love you, I may be out on the street the next day with nowhere to go._

 _I couldn't ask you to help me, if you even wanted to after what I've done. If I were to start living with you, the school would most likely get you in trouble and then it would go back to your parents and I might force you to come out. I just can't do that; I've already screwed up your life enough. I've thought about this so many times, it's sickening. The worst part of it all is that I never see a good way out, it never ends well._

 _The only good outcome is that my parents are fine with it, which won't happen because my dad is a jerk. So, when I finally do tell him, I'm not sure what will happen. I don't know where we will be, perhaps you will find someone better than me by then. . . I don't want to think about that, but if that is the case, then I will have to wish you well. . ._

 _I hope that doesn't happen, and I hope you can find a way to forgive me._

 _I've already made so many plans for my life with you. I often think about us and what we will do. I've always liked the idea of being there when you graduate as your girlfriend. Shortly after college when we've found jobs, I wanted to get married, but to you. I wanted all of our friends to be there, we could go somewhere or even have it in the garden at the mansion. After the wedding we could go anywhere you wanted for the honeymoon and when we got back we could find a house together._

 _I've thought about all of this and so much more._

 _I am trying to find a way to correct this mistake, but as of right now I am not sure what to do besides telling my parents. I don't even know how I would get in contact with you when I did, and I certainly don't have a reason for you to believe me. I just can't help but think that I've really screwed up this time. I just can't but think that you really are gone now and there may be nothing to get you back._

 _If that is the case. . . Then please remember this._

 _The time I spent with you was the best time I've ever had in my life. If I could relive every single day, good or bad, that I spent with you for the rest of my life, I would die happy. You will always be my one true love whether you return those feelings or not. I will always love you and when I'm sad, I will think of our time together to cheer me up as I already do._

 _I am sorry for what I did to you, and whether you ever tell me, I hope you can forgive me eventually._

 _Love,_

 _Sachiko_

Yumi put the letter down before wiping the tears from her eyes. She took a deep breath to calm herself before placing the letter back down on her desk, she was going to tape it up later and hold on to it. First, she had to do something.

Sachiko immediately glanced up as the door to her left opened and Yumi stepped out before sitting next to her on the floor. She didn't dare say anything, she wasn't sure why she was doing this. She was surprised however, when Yumi turned to her and wiped a tear from her face.

"Yumi. . .?" Sachiko asked carefully as Yumi cursed at herself mentally, she knew Youko wouldn't approve of what she was about to do.

"Come with me," Yumi said simply as she rose from the ground before helping Sachiko up. Sachiko just simply complied as Yumi led her into her dorm room and shut the door. There was an awkward silence for a moment before Yumi finally decided this was what she wanted and pressed Sachiko up against the door and locked lips with her.

Sachiko responded to Yumi as if nothing had happened, her hands roamed Yumi's body just as much as Yumi's roamed hers. It was such a familiar thing for the two to do, it felt so amazing to be in this spot again.

When the kiss finally broke Sachiko was breathing heavy and sad that this moment was over. That was until she heard the sound of Yumi locking the door she had been pressed up against.

"You better go through with it," Yumi simply said as Sachiko glanced over to Yumi's desk and saw the note she had torn in two. Once Yumi knew that Sachiko had seen the note she spoke again. "Don't make me regret doing this."

"Doing what?" Sachiko finally asked still breathless from the kiss.

Yumi response was grabbing Sachiko by her coat, turning her around and slowly walking her towards her bed where she finally pushed her over. Yumi just stood there for a moment looking at Sachiko who didn't dare make a move.

After a long silence, Yumi took her shirt off and climbed over top of Sachiko before looking at her seriously. "Don't think this means I forgive you. If you ever choose him over me again, I'll leave you for good."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Hello everyone, so sorry about the wait on this chapter. I had this all planned to go a certain way and then the end of last chapter threw a kink into that plan and now I'm taking it a different direction. I will go over that at the end of this chapter for those who don't care to read these. Then again you probably aren't reading this right now so you wouldn't know anyway. . . Anyways, aside from doing that, I also wrote this chapter a few times. I have a word document open in the background that is around 3.3k words (a little longer than this one). I got to the end of it and thought about posting it last week and just couldn't, I was not happy with it at all. So I restarted this on a much better note and had it done in just a day or so. I will go over my thoughts on that at the end because it was similar enough to spoil things in this chapter.

So anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you for the reviews and PM's.

* * *

Sachiko groaned as her eyes opened, her body ached all over. Yumi had been relentless the night before and now she was paying for it, but she was happy. That was until she rolled over and noticed that Yumi was nowhere to be seen. The spot next to her was empty and she was still nude.

She decided not to question it and instead lay back down, her mind was in a million different places right now. Last night they hadn't had a chance to talk, all they did was make love. Sachiko's aching body was evidence enough of Yumi's aggressiveness the night before. She wasn't sure where it had come from, but it was amazing.

That said she was surprised that Yumi was already awake. Yumi shouldn't have class this early. Yumi usually did get up earlier than her, but she also usually left a note or woke Sachiko to tell her where she was going. Then again this was her dorm and not Sachiko's bedroom, she probably only did that when at Sachiko's house.

Still though, Sachiko felt uncomfortable here. She wasn't sure if she was welcome yet, but she knew she couldn't leave. She needed to speak to Yumi, she needed to make things right, so she decided to stay. She rolled over onto her side and pulled the blanket up. She smiled just trying to enjoy the fact that she was in Yumi's bed after a night of apparently intense love making. It was a thought that would help her drift back to sleep.

She would wake again when she heard the door shut about thirty minutes later and the crinkling of a paper bag. She slowly raised her head and glanced over her shoulder as she saw Yumi set the bag down on her desk along with two cups of what she assumed was coffee from the smell. It wasn't until she rolled over more that she saw a familiar logo on the bag.

She hesitantly looked up at Yumi who just took notice that she was awake.

"I got you a bagel," Yumi said as she reached in the bag and handed Sachiko a bagel along with a napkin.

"Thanks," Sachiko simply responded before sitting up in Yumi's bed exposing her still bare torso. Yumi glanced to her for a moment before looking around for her discarded shirt. She tossed it onto the bed next to Sachiko before sitting down at her desk and opening her laptop.

Sachiko didn't know what to do, or if she should say anything. She just simply set her bagel down and put her shirt on before climbing out of bed to find her pants.

"Sit down, you are not leaving yet," Yumi said as Sachiko swallowed, she had never heard Yumi talk to her like that ever. She knew this wasn't up for question, Yumi's voice was definitive. She just simply sat back down on the bed before covering herself up again with Yumi's blanket. She didn't have time to grab her pants.

"I got you coffee," Yumi said a minute later as she handed Sachiko one of the cups without ever turning to look back at her.

Sachiko leaned forward and grabbed it, thanking her while doing so before going back to eating her bagel. She couldn't really see what Yumi was doing at her computer, but she could hear typing.

She wondered what Yumi was thinking, she wondered what was going to happen. The silence was killing her, the way Yumi had her back to her, barely saying anything had her on edge. She was nervous, the last thing she wanted to do was sit and eat a bagel.

"Sorry," Yumi said closing her laptop before spinning in her chair to face Sachiko who just froze. "I had to let my professors know that I would not be in today."

Sachiko just remained silent, she didn't feel like this was her time to talk.

"About what happened last night. . ." Yumi trailed off before sighing, she knew this was going to be a tough thing to get through. She really just wanted to tell Sachiko that it was fantastic and that she wanted to do it again right now, but she knew she couldn't. Sachiko needed to know what she had to say. If they were ever going to work out again, Sachiko needed to do some things.

"I'm sorry," Sachiko spoke up this time noticing Yumi seemed to be at a loss for words.

Yumi shook her head, "No, I should be the one sorry this time. What we did never should have happened."

Sachiko bit her bottom lip, Yumi's words felt like daggers in her heart. Had Yumi regretted last night? Did this mean that they were through? Had she really thrown away any chance of being with Yumi?

"I don't want you to think that you're forgiven in any way," Yumi said a moment later understanding that Sachiko was probably going through all of these questions in her mind. "I have not forgiven you and I will not forgive you so simply. If what you wrote to me in the letter is true, then I am going to give you a chance to have your place in my heart again."

Sachiko nodded as that stab in her heart came back. Yumi was ready to give up on her over this, and she didn't blame her, but actually hearing Yumi say it hurt so bad. "I'll do anything," Sachiko mumbled a moment later just barley loud enough for Yumi to catch.

Yumi just simply took a deep breath, "I would to like to make it clear that these are non negotiable," she explained as Sachiko nodded her head. "Good," Yumi replied, "First, if you ever choose Suguru over me ever again, I will leave you and there will be no more chances. If you pick him over me again, we will never be anything more than friends. I will not be second in your heart, and I will not be anyone's mistress. There is no room for a third person in our relationship. It's me and you, no one else."

Sachiko nodded, she definitely knew not to speak now.

"Second," Yumi said before going silent for a moment, this was the harder one. "I'm giving you a month to tell your parents about us. If you love me and want to be with me, then prove it, because. . ." Yumi paused for a moment trying to hold back her emotions. "Because choosing Suguru is a pretty clear message about how you feel towards me," she continued as her voice cracked and she wiped a tear that had formed in her eye.

Sachiko just blinked once or twice as she felt that familiar sting in the corner of her own eyes. Yumi was right though and that was the painful thing about all of this.

"You have to tell your parents," Yumi sniffled before taking a moment to recompose herself.

"That leads into the last point," Yumi said giving Sachiko a moment to compose herself a little too. She wanted to be sure that Sachiko was listening to all of this. "I love you. I love you so much it hurts, especially right now. So when the time comes that you need to tell your parents, I will be there with you. I will not let you go through this alone, it's scary, and I know you are worried about the consequences. I will be there for you. If you need a place to stay, you will stay with me, and if that doesn't work, which it will, we will find our own place to stay. I want to be with you, Sachiko. I want to be the one you marry, I want to love you for the rest of my life."

"I do too," Sachiko said now unable to hold back those tears.

"Then you have to tell your parents and get out of this marriage. If that is how you really feel then you should be able to do this. . . Just don't forget that you don't have to do this alone," Yumi said one more time just for good measure as she watched Sachiko wipe the tears from her face.

"I'm sorry, Yumi. I'm so sorry," Sachiko sniffled as Yumi finally got up and climbed into bed, slowly pulling Sachiko's head down until she was resting in Yumi's lap. "I am an idiot."

Yumi smiled as she ran a hand through Sachiko's hair trying to calm to her. She could tell Sachiko was broken up over this situation. She was happy that Sachiko seemed to realize her mistake, but she was serious. If Sachiko didn't do what she had asked, which she thought was fair, then she would have to move on. Whether she actually could move on from Sachiko was another question. Yumi hoped she never had to find out if she was capable.

"I will tell them in two weeks," Sachiko said breaking Yumi's thought process. "We are going to a restaurant for dinner. Would you join me?"

Yumi smile widened, Sachiko didn't' even need to ask realistically, "of course I will join you."

"I will tell them then," Sachiko said as she took a deep breath. This was her time to prove that Yumi was the only person she wanted to be with.

"I will be right there with you when you do," Yumi said causing Sachiko to smile this time. How stupid she had been to chance screwing up this up.

 _Knock, knock, knock. . ._

"Oh no," Yumi said as she glanced to the door. "I forgot Youko was coming over with breakfast. I am sorry, Sachiko. You've been on my mind all morning, she is not going to be happy."

"It's fine," Sachiko said as she lifted herself from the comfort of Yumi's lap so Yumi could go open the door.

"Good morning, Yumi, how are you fee…Oh," Youko stopped mid sentenced when she noticed Sachiko sitting on the bed behind her. Yumi just simply nodded as she stepped aside and let Youko in.

There was an awkward silence for a long time as the three just looked between each other. Yumi standing by her desk, Youko by the door, and Sachiko still nude from the waist down under Yumi's blanket.

"I assume you being here means you've told your parents?" Youko finally asked wanting to make sense of this situation in front of her.

Sachiko didn't respond, she just simply looked down at the bed in front of her, causing Youko to sigh loudly. "Yumi what is going on?"

Yumi swallowed knowing how Youko felt about this, but she thought Rei was right, she needed to talk to Sachiko. This was her relationship and though she realized Youko was trying to make Sachiko realize what she had done, the silence wasn't the way to do it.

"Sachiko came to give me a letter yesterday," Yumi started as she glanced over to her desk where it was. She had decided the night before that it would stay between her and Sachiko and the she would most definitely be keeping it. "I needed to talk to her."

"It certainly looks like a lot of, ' _talking,'_ happened," Youko said taking note that Sachiko was still in Yumi's bed.

"We talked for a long time, it was late, so I invited her to stay here," Yumi said feeling awkward that she was having to explain herself in her own dorm room. Maybe it was the fact that she was trying to lie to someone who was in getting into a law field. Youko most likely saw right through her.

"Listen," Youko said kind of catching on to the fact that she was causing tension here. She knew she had been cold, but it was how she approached problems. "I don't care that you two talked, I don't care if Sachiko spent the night, I don't care if you two made love. I just don't want to see this happen again, and I worry that getting back together so fast is just going to push the issue out of sight again."

Youko turned to Sachiko. "You cannot do this again to her. You need to fix this, if you break her heart again. . ." Youko just simply shook her head trying to get that scary thought out of her head. "I want to trust that you will fix this, Sachiko. I want to trust that you will do what I _know_ you want to do. I _know_ you choose Yumi every time, in your heart, but that isn't enough. There is a big difference between telling someone they are first in your heart and actually proving it with your actions. You cannot tell someone you love them and then push them to the side to marry someone else. I know your situation is unique with those whole marriage thing not being your idea, but you have to get over this fear and or sense of duty to your parents. Your parents priorities should be making sure that you are happy, not marrying you off to the biggest money maker they can find."

"I know," Sachiko finally spoke though it was weak.

"I told her what needs to be done," Yumi finally said as Youko glanced to Yumi with question written all over her face. "I'm giving her a month to tell her parents. If she doesn't by then, I made it clear that we are through, I also hopefully made it clear that if she ever chooses Suguru over me ever again, we are through."

Youko blinked once or twice, had Yumi really laid down the law? The way Sachiko had her head down and didn't say a word made it seem like this was reality.

"I also told her that she doesn't need to do this alone," Yumi said a moment later, mainly for Sachiko's sake. She knew how scared she was of telling her parents.

Youko just simply smiled to this, it sounded like a good plan, and Yumi was willing to back her up when she needed it. "I think that is fair, so if that is the case, then I want to offer my help also. Sachiko has a month?" Youko asked just to be sure as Sachiko lifted her head this time and nodded, curious as to what Youko had to say. "Good, then if either of you need anything to make sure this happens, don't hesitate to call me, no matter the time or day."

"Really?" Sachiko asked trying to find any hint of uncertainty in Youko's facial expression.

"Of course," Youko smiled. "You two belong together and you are both very important to me. I will do everything I can to help you get through this. Just don't expect me to get too soft, I know how thick headed you can be, Sachiko."

Sachiko smiled, she wasn't sure what to say.

"Thank you," Yumi finally spoke for the both of them before giving Youko a hug.

"I am going to tell them in two weeks," Sachiko finally said before filling Youko in on what she had discussed earlier with Yumi.

. . .

"I assume you are going to this dinner with her?" Youko asked as Yumi nodded with a smile, she wouldn't be anywhere else. "Good, because as much as Sachiko needs to do this, you need to be there. . . Now let's quit talking about this and enjoy a little breakfast, Youko said holding up a brown paper bag.

Yumi just simply moved a little so Youko could see a similar paper bag on her desk.

"Oh," Youko said before shrugging, "well then, second breakfast."

 **Hours later. . .**

Yumi plopped down on her bed as Sachiko set down a plastic bag and started digging through it taking out two take out boxes. She turned around and handed one to Yumi before grabbing her own and crawling onto the bed with Yumi to take a seat. Both girls were using the wall as a backrest and their laps as a makeshift table for their takeout boxes.

Yumi was flipping through movies to watch on Netflix, but her determination to find the perfect one was cut short by her hunger. She decided to put on the first thing that Sachiko make a positive comment about, which was a TV show.

"I heard this one is really good."

"Orange Is the New Black, huh?" Yumi asked as she shrugged and pressed play. "I guess we will have something to watch for a little while then, it has a few seasons."

Sachiko smiled, "I'm fine with that if I get to watch it all with you."

"Deal, we will watch this together."

 _Bzzt, bzzt. . ._

Sachiko glanced to her phone as she saw the screen light up. "Ugh, it's my mother," Sachiko groaned as she unlocked the screen and saw the message asking where she was. Sachiko quickly typed a reply before the screen went black and she tossed it to the side again.

"What did you say?" Yumi asked curiously.

"I told her I was staying the night for now…and maybe a little while if you don't mind," Sachiko added as she poked at her food.

"I would prefer if you stayed here every night, but I realize why you can't," Yumi said as Sachiko smiled.

"Well with any luck, spending so much time with you will raise questions from my parents. Anything to make that moment less stressful is welcomed right now."

Yumi remained silent for a moment before placing a kiss on Sachiko's cheek. "Everything will be fine, just remember I'll be there with you."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright so I'm going to break this author's note into two parts and they will probably be pretty lengthy.

 **The original idea.**

I made mentioned that I changed how the story was supposed to go, so I wanted to tell you what was originally supposed to happen, because it isn't going to anymore. So the original breakup went as planned and it focused on how hard it hit Yumi originally, but in the next few chapters it was all supposed to be focused around Sachiko and how she was handling this, which she wasn't. The title Reality Check was meant to be for Sachiko and that reality check would be her coming to terms with that fact that she pushed Yumi out of her life and wouldn't be with her anymore if she didn't fix this. Sachiko writes that note to Yumi in the last chapter and Yumi invites her in. Originally, Sachiko was never going to do that, she was going to write in her diary every chapter as a way to really dive into what she was thinking and how miserable she was becoming. Mix in a few things about her parents trying to force to go out with Suguru and she would really start breaking down. Then there was this idea of a party that Sei is throwing. All of their friends are there and Sachiko sees Yumi for the first time in awhile, and to her surprise. Yumi ignores her completely, she barely even glances her direction.

Sachiko obviously hurt by this takes Yumi into a nearby room to talk about what is happening. Sachiko is miserable, but she hasn't done anything to fix it yet and that enrages Yumi. She wants an apology but hasn't tried to fix it yet, so Yumi raised her voice and storms out leaving with words she probably didn't really mean, but they hit Sachiko hard. This would be the part where she starts coming around, she goes to Youko for help, she tries to think her way out of this and then it hits her. She is nothing without Yumi, so she makes one last journal entry and with a little help from Youko who is still helping Yumi, she gets into Yumi's dorm and leaves her all of her diaries for Yumi to read. Yumi of course feels horrible about what happened at the party, especially as she reads all these diaries that show her really just how much Sachiko loves her and knows that she screwed up and then she sees the final note marked only that morning. Sachiko is telling her parents and she is scared out of her mind.

Anyways, that is the summarized version of what this story was supposed to be. It wasn't really going to get into anything super fast. I'm not happy about why I changed it, but I figured maybe you would be interested in seeing how it originally was supposed to go. Because of the change, I have no idea where I'm going with it right now.

 **The other version of this chapter (spoilers for this chapter)**

It's essentially the same scene sort of, but in my other one Yoshino interrupts and makes things awkward before rushing back to tell Rei and runs into Youko on the way back. Youko is just absolutely insane in the other chapter. I overdid it on her too much, so I tried to dial her back a bit on this one because she wasn't at all what I envisioned. Though I do typically view her as the kind of motherly figure to Sachiko and Yumi who isn't afraid to tell either of them when they are wrong, especially Sachiko. 

The three things Yumi tells Sachiko (choosing Suguru, telling her parents, and not having to do it alone) was actually left in from the other chapter. That happened, but it was a lot more awkward. Yoshino had just left the room after completely destroying any self confidence Sachiko had. Honestly the other version was basically just one big chapter about everyone calling Sachiko names, except for Yumi of course who was defending her to an extent.

I just didn't like it. Sachiko originally wakes up in bed with Yumi to the sound of someone knocking on the door. They both quickly get dressed and then Yoshino comes in and then there is a tiny break where Yumi tells Sachiko what needs to be done. Then Youko bursts through the door immediately asking why Sachiko was there. I didn't like it at all. Youko was crazy, Yoshino was snobby, Yumi was more or less the same, and Sachiko just took all the punches and asked for more every single comment. I think this version turned out way better.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Hello everyone! I've figured out where I am taking this story now, it just took me a little bit to figure it out. Thank you for the reviews/pm's. It is always great to hear from everyone. There was one last thing I wanted to touch on quickly. A review pointed out that this story was very westernized and I have to agree. I don't think I intentionally meant for it to come out that way. I think what I've been reading lately has probably influenced my take on specific scenes and just the college life in general here. Anyways, I just wanted to thank you for that review and give some of my thoughts on that because others probably have noticed.

As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Sachiko sat silently as her professor went over a subject on the board up front. She wasn't sure how anyone was supposed to be able to stay focused for the entire class period. It just wasn't possible, but she found it hard to look away from the board today because every time she did her eyes wandered over to Rei who seemed to notice every time.

She cursed her decision to try and take as many classes with Rei as possible now. She knew that Rei knew about what she did, Yumi had told her that Yoshino and Rei knew. She had been friends with Rei long enough to know that Rei was going to question her after this class. She wasn't sure she really wanted to talk about it though. The last thing she wanted was to explain everything that had happened and make it seem like things were alright, because they weren't. She was on thin ice, she knew that, and most certainly didn't want to accidentally convey that to her friend.

Unfortunately, when the class was over her worries came to life as Rei quickly stood from her seat and headed right to Sachiko. The look on her face was anything but happy. "Talk," was the only word that came out of Rei's mouth. The serious tone in her voice was enough for Sachiko to know that Rei wasn't happy with the situation.

Sachiko sighed as she glanced around seeing that there still other students there. "Can we do it somewhere else?"

Rei glanced around before nodding, "Yoshino is still in class for another hour. We can go back to my dorm."

Sachiko just nodded as she grabbed her things and stood from her seat to follow Rei.

Once they were in her dorm room Sachiko set her things down on the desk that Rei and Yoshino shared before taking a seat.

"Alright, so let's start with the obvious. Tell me what happened," Rei said as she sat down on her bed. Hearing both sides of the story would be helpful for her and Sachiko's explanation was essentially what Yumi's was.

Rei sighed as Sachiko finished explaining what had happened the other day. "You don't seem too torn about this situation," Rei said noting that Sachiko seemed pretty normal actually. The talks they've had in the past would make Sachiko a crying mess in Rei's mind. She knew how much Sachiko loved Yumi, so her calm behavior was odd to say the least.

"Well," Sachiko said as she thought for a moment, "I was. . . I mean, I am. I. . ." Sachiko sighed, she knew this would sound weird. "We kind of made up, but didn't."

Rei raised an eyebrow, "what does that mean exactly?"

"Well," Sachiko paused as she thought about the other night. "It means that Yumi has decided to give me a second chance, but there are some conditions."

"Such as. . .?"

Sachiko bit her bottom lip as she thought, for some reason she felt embarrassed by this. "I have to tell my parents that I'm seeing her, and. . . If I ever choose Suguru again, she will leave me."

Rei blinked at Sachiko a few times, "Yumi said this?" She asked just to be clear.

Sachiko just simply nodded.

"Good," Rei simply said as Sachiko raised her eyebrow this time. "You need a push in the right direction. You are too thick headed for your own good, especially this time around."

Sachiko frowned a little bit.

"I'm not trying to pick on you," Rei said realizing what she was saying wasn't exactly nice. "Listen, I'm your best friend. As your best friend, I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that you and Yumi belong together. If you go off and marry Suguru, you will be absolutely miserable for the rest of your life and I know you know that."

Sachiko nodded.

"So, how do you feel about these rules?" Rei asked curiously as Sachiko thought for a moment before sighing.

"I feel like they are fair, but I'm ashamed that it's come to this," Sachiko explained as Rei nodded. "I am afraid because it doesn't seem real that I'm telling my parents in a few weeks. I feel like I should be freaking out right now, but I'm not, and I know when the day comes, I will."

"Have you told Yumi-chan how you feel yet?" Rei asked as Sachiko shook her head. "You really should."

"I know," Sachiko replied with a sigh, "I just. . . I don't know. I'm afraid that if I tell her the reality of this still isn't having its effect on me, that she might think I'm not taking this seriously. I cannot mess up again."

"You won't," Rei said as Sachiko looked at her questioning how she knew that with the look on her face. "Yumi is crazy about you, she cares for you Sachiko. I know she will be there the entire way through. She loves you and I know for a fact that she would want you to share your feelings with her. In fact, I think she would be secretly jealous if she knew you were here sharing these concerns with me instead of her."

Sachiko remained silent for a moment as she thought about everything Rei had said.

"Thank you," Sachiko finally said as she lifted her gaze from the floor where it had fallen during her thoughts. "I think I'm going to go talk with Yumi now."

Rei smiled, "I think that is the wise thing to do," she said as she stood and starting heading towards the door with Sachiko close behind her. "Before you go, I was wondering if you have spoken with Youko yet?"

"Briefly," Sachiko replied as Rei opened her dorm room door and turned to Sachiko. "We haven't talked one on one yet, but she seems in favor of this situation. She doesn't seem to mind that I'm staying with Yumi right now."

Rei blinked a few times at Sachiko, "we will have to talk about that some time. For now, focus on telling Yumi how you feel."

 **A few hours later. . .**

Sachiko scrolled through messages on her phone as she waited for her food order to be done. Yumi was in class right now and after talking with Rei and doing homework for a few hours she needed something to eat. She decided to get something at the school's cafeteria as a break from her school work.

"Hey, you're that girl always going to Yumi's room."

Sachiko lifted her head from her phone as she came face to face with someone she didn't recognize. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Oh right, sorry. I stay in the dorm next to Yumi. We don't really talk much, but I just wanted to make sure Yumi was alright. I think I heard her crying the other night."

"Thank you for your concern, and to answer your question, Yumi is fine. Perhaps the noise was something else? The walls are thin in these dorms," Sachiko suggested as the girl thought about it a moment before shrugging it off.

"Yea, perhaps you're right, it could have been anything. I just figured I would ask seeing as though I've seen you around quite a bit. Speaking of which, what was your name?"

Sachiko paused for a moment before smiling, "I'm Ogasawara, Sachiko. I'm Yumi's girlfriend."

"Girlfriend? You mean you and Yumi are. . .?"

"We're a couple," Sachiko confirmed as the girl nodded.

"I guess that explains why I see you around so much then."

"Ogasawara?"

Sachiko turned to see that her food order was ready before turning back towards Yumi's dorm neighbor. "Oh, that must be yours, I won't keep you waiting. It was nice meeting you, tell Yumi I said hi."

"I will," Sachiko said with a small bow before turning and grabbing her food.

Once she was back in Yumi's room she took a deep breath. Her mind had been on Yumi's neighbor the whole walk back. She had hoped it was alright that she had told her Yumi was her girlfriend. In the back of her head she knew it was ridiculous to think that Yumi would be upset over it. In fact, she would most likely be happy that Sachiko had done it.

Sachiko shook her head before heading over to Yumi's desk and sitting down to eat her lunch. She knew it wouldn't be a big deal, and it had felt good to finally tell someone. Sachiko sat silent for a moment thinking about that fact. She had finally told someone aside from her close friend group. It was a step, no matter how small. She just hoped she wouldn't freeze when it came to her parents.

Sachiko shook the thought out of her head before standing up and digging through Yumi's clothes to find a sweater. She swore it was always freezing in the dorms.

Just as she was sitting back down at Yumi's desk the door opened and Yumi came in with a deep breath before tossing her stuff on her bed.

"Everything alright?" Sachiko asked curiously as Yumi nodded and went to her dresser and started searching through her things.

"I guess so," Yumi sighed as she turned to Sachiko with a small frown. "My mom texted me during class, we're having a family gathering this weekend."

"Oh," Sachiko simply responded as she put her head down. That cancelled any plans she had with her. "I guess it would give me a chance to get some more clothes from home."

Yumi bit her bottom lip as she stared at Sachiko for a moment, she had been questioning if she should do this, especially considering the situation. "Actually, I was hoping you would come with me."

"C-come with you?" Sachiko asked completely caught off guard as the room went silent. After a moment Sachiko was finally able to sort out her thoughts, "have you already told your family about us?"

Yumi glanced to Sachiko and shook her head, "no, but I figured this would probably be the best time to do it."

"I want to tell them, Yumi, but won't it be a little odd? What if your parents don't accept us? What if we get to wherever this get together is and the rest of your family doesn't accept us?"

"I know," Yumi said firmly cutting Sachiko off which immediately silenced the older girl. "I've thought about all of that, but I want to tell them. It may even help you tell your parents when we go out to dinner with them."

Sachiko thought about all the people who would find out if she went through with this. Yumi had a point, it could help her tell her parents. "Are you certain you want to do this?"

Yumi nodded, "I know the timing might not seem ideal, but I don't want to hide what we have anymore. I'm sick of telling my parents you're just my friend."

"What about the issue we are having right now?" Sachiko asked even though it pained her to.

Yumi remained silent for a minute as she looked at Sachiko.

"You bring up a good point," Yumi said before taking a deep breath. "I know that all of our friends would tell me not to do this before you tell your parents. I know that if you don't' tell your parents after I do this that my heart will really break, but. . . I love you, Sachiko and…and as crazy as this might seem after what happened, I trust you. I trust you when you tell me I am the only one you love and that you want to be with only me. I trust everything you wrote to me in that letter."

Yumi paused for a moment taking a deep breath, "I trust you when you say that you will tell your parents. . . So, it doesn't matter if I tell mine first, I know that you will tell yours, because you promised me."

Sachiko smiled even though she couldn't look at Yumi right now. The pain of picking Suguru that morning hurt, especially now. How could Yumi stand there and say such wonderful things about her when she was the one who was hurt the most.

"Sachiko. . .?" Yumi asked curiously after a moment.

Sachiko lifted her head and cleared her throat, the smile on her face had only grown bigger as she thought about how much Yumi really loved her. "I would be happy to go with you, but I think we should tell your parents first. They should probably know before we go."

Yumi nodded, "how about tomorrow? We can go over there for dinner and spend the night, assuming it all goes well."

Sachiko smiled as she stood from where she was sitting and went over to Yumi giving her a hug. "I will be there either way, I promise."

Yumi smiled before pulling back a little and standing to her tip toes to give Sachiko a kiss. The kiss was ended when Sachiko finally pulled away. The look on her face wasn't the one Yumi was expecting, something was on her mind.

"Before we do that, I think we need to talk," she said remembering her conversation with Rei earlier.

Yumi sensed whatever was bothering Sachiko was something she might not be comfortable with. She worried it might be something about their relationship. That didn't make sense though, Sachiko seemed more than willing to take the next step in their relationship.

"It's nothing bad," Sachiko said reading the worry on Yumi's face. "I just feel that you need to know this. I don't want to keep anything from you."

Yumi just simply nodded as Sachiko let her go and went over to sit on her bed. "I'm not feeling the way I think I should."

"The way you think you should?" Yumi asked as she went to her desk chair and took a seat facing Sachiko. "What do you mean?"

"I'm telling my parents about us very soon and…It just doesn't seem real. It's like I cannot comprehend what is about to happen so I'm not worried about it even though it's all I'm thinking about," Sachiko explained as Yumi raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm worried that when the time comes I won't be able to tell them. I feel like I should be freaking out right now, but I'm just not."

Yumi took a deep breath, "I think I understand, and I'm glad you shared this with me."

"I'm sorry for feeling like this," Sachiko said feeling tiny right now. She was completely at the mercy of Yumi's reaction right now and she was on thin ice. She just hoped she could explain herself more if Yumi reacted poorly. She worried that Yumi would think she was having doubts about telling her parents.

"I think this is probably normal," Yumi said as Sachiko looked to her honestly surprised. "I kind of feel the same way about telling my parents tomorrow, but I'm sure when we leave to go there I will start to panic."

Sachiko nodded, it seemed Yumi completely understood what she was getting at.

"Let's make a promise then," Yumi suggested as Sachiko raised an eyebrow curiously. "We won't leave my parents house tomorrow night without them knowing and likewise, we won't leave dinner with your parents until they know. It will be up to you tomorrow to make sure I can't leave until my parents know, and when it comes time for you, I will make sure you can't leave until they know."

Sachiko thought about it for a moment, "so I won't let you leave until you tell your parents and you will do the same for me?"

Yumi nodded, but look on her face was asking the question on her mind for her, "do you not like that idea?"

Sachiko quickly shook her head, "no, no, it's not that. I think that is a great idea, I just wanted to be sure that is what we are agreeing on before I hold the car keys from you tomorrow."

Yumi smiled, "I'll text them now then and tell them we're coming for dinner."

Sachiko just nodded before remembering what happened earlier, "oh by the way, I ran into your dorm neighbor earlier."

Yumi raised her eyebrow, "how do you know she is my neighbor?"

"Well, she told me, she was curious who I was because I'm around so much. I told her I was your girlfriend," Sachiko admitted as Yumi looked up from her phone pleasantly surprised. "I hope that is alright, I just figured if we are telling our parents, that you wouldn't mind."

Yumi smiled brightly this time, it seemed Sachiko was trying to make an effort, "I don't mind at all. In fact, I think we should celebrate. How about a mini date tonight? We can go out to our favorite restaurant later tonight and you can tell me all about it."

Sachiko smiled, very relieved that Yumi wasn't upset, "that sounds wonderful."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Hello everyone. I am sorry this took so long to get out. I think this is one of the longer chapters, but I redid parts of it a few times. I think I'm finally happy with it. I will go over a few of the issues at the bottom of this story because they talk about things that happen in this chapter. Thank you for the reviews and PM's, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Yumi hit the green call button before putting the phone to her ear. Having Sachiko sitting next to her on her bed made this easier, but her nerves were running wild now. She wasn't sure how she was going to ask this without it getting awkward.

Her breath caught in her throat when her mother finally answered. "H-Hello," Yumi answered back to her mother before pausing awkwardly.

" _Are you still there?"_ Yumi's mother asked when the phone went silent.

"Y-Yes, sorry mother. I was calling to ask you two questions," Yumi said before glancing to Sachiko who just gave her a reassuring smile. "First, I was hoping to join you for dinner tonight, and I would also like to invite Onee-sama. I don't' get to spend much time with her and it has been a long time since you've seen her."

"Oh, that sounds great, when did you want to come over?" Yumi's mother asked trying to think of when she should start dinner.

"Maybe around five?"

"That sounds great. Are you staying the night?" Yumi's mother asked curiously. "It might be easier so you don't have to get up early tomorrow."

"About that," Yumi said before going quiet. Sachiko took this as her queue to give her hand a squeeze and a reassuring look. "I was hoping Onee-sama could come with us this weekend and possibly stay the night."

"Come with us to the family get together? Wouldn't that be a little awkward?" Yumi's mother asked as Yumi closed her eyes trying to steady her racing heart.

"W-Well, I don't think so," Yumi replied before thinking quickly. "She has been a big part of my life and I usually just sit around and do nothing, it would be nice to have someone to talk with."

Yumi's mother tossed the idea around in her head, she didn't want Yumi to just be talking with Sachiko the entire time and avoid her family. It wouldn't hurt anything though, and she was certain that a few members of her family were interested in meeting Sachiko. Yumi had brought her up plenty of times before at these get togethers.

"Can I give you an answer after dinner?"

Yumi quickly nodded before speaking, "yes, that would be fine."

"Alright, then I will see you two at dinner."

"See you at dinner," Yumi replied before hearing the phone line go dead. She took a deep breath once it was over.

"So what did she say?" Sachiko asked curiously as Yumi looked to her and smiled.

"We are meeting her for dinner around five, and she is going to give me an answer about you coming with after dinner. She seemed a little confused as to why I wanted you to come with. I think it will make a lot more sense when I tell her what I need to," Yumi explained as Sachiko smiled briefly this time before leaning in and giving Yumi a kiss.

"Everything will be fine, even if she doesn't want me to go."

"If you don't go, then I'm not going. You are my girlfriend and it's my decision to introduce you to my family. I want them to know you're not my Onee-sama anymore."

Sachiko smiled, "then we will make sure they know regardless of how we have to do it."

 **Hours later. . .**

"Remember the plan?" Yumi asked as Sachiko turned the car off and took the keys out of the ignition even though Yumi was driving.

"I hold these until your parents know about us," Sachiko replied dangling the keys in front of Yumi for a moment before putting them in her pocket.

Yumi took a deep breath trying to calm her beating heart. The realization of what she was planning on doing had fully sunk in now.

"You don't have to do this right now," Sachiko said a moment later breaking the silence. She could tell Yumi was nervous, and she feared what she had done was part of the reason. "We can wait until I tell my parents if you want."

"No," Yumi said immediately. "It's not that, it's just that this is really happening. I just don't even know how I'm going to bring it up to them."

Sachiko thought for a moment, they hadn't really discussed how they would tell her parents, just that they would at this dinner.

"Also, I said I trust you and that is still true now. I want my parents to know and these nerves I'm feeling have nothing to do with me worrying that you won't tell yours."

Sachiko looked over to Yumi for a moment before smiling, it always seemed Yumi was two steps ahead of her own thoughts. "Then let's just wait for the right moment and ask them to sit down and talk with us before I leave if that moment doesn't seem to present itself."

Yumi nodded, "if all goes well, you wont' have to leave. You will come with us tomorrow. To be sure they know though promise me that they will know before the night ends, even if it means you have to tell them."

Sachiko thought for a moment before nodding, "I promise."

Yumi leaned forward and placed her lips against Sachiko's taking comfort in a long kiss before stepping out of the car and taking a deep breath. Sachiko gave her a reassuring smile before coming around the car taking her hand, and walking to the front door with her.

Sachiko stopped her once they were outside the door for one last moment alone. Even though it was darker out, she could still clearly see the nerves on Yumi's face. She smiled reassuringly as she cupped one of Yumi's cheeks, "I love you."

For a brief moment Yumi's facial expression softened, three simple words taking the edge off of her nerves. "I love you too," Yumi replied a moment later smiling now, it was just the thing she needed to hear at this moment.

Both girls stepped back from one another when the door suddenly flung open. Thankfully it was just Yuuki, but unfortunately he had a knowing look on his face. Yumi's brother was quite aware of their relationship but aside from minor teasing he had kept their secret.

"I thought I heard a car pull up. I thought maybe you got lost on your way to the door. Mom told me to come see if you two were actually here," Yuuki explained as Yumi smiled at him briefly. "If you two need a minute, I can think of an excuse for mom."

Yumi's smile turned to a frown causing her brother to laugh for a moment. Yumi just sighed in response, her brother loved teasing her, but she wasn't in the mood for it tonight.

He laughed at her frown before turning to walk back towards the kitchen, but Yumi grabbed his shoulder before he got too far. "Wait Yuuki, I need to ask you something," Yumi said as she entered the house with Sachiko and shut the door.

Yuuki raised an eyebrow at her as she felt her nerves come back. He already knew about them and she was nervous to tell him.

"I'm telling mom and dad about Sachiko," Yumi said as Yuuki looked from his sister to Sachiko who just simply nodded to solidify the point. "Could you please leave us alone tonight? I'm a nervous mess already."

Yuuki stared at Yumi for a moment before smiling, "I can do that, thanks for letting me know."

"Thank you," Sachiko said with a small bow towards Yumi's brother which he just waved a hand at. He loved teasing his sister about Sachiko, but he never meant any offense. He was actually happy that Sachiko was apart of his sisters life in the way she was. He had seen Yumi at some low points in her life revolving around her feelings for the older girl.

"Yumi, Sachiko, welcome!" Mr. Fukuzawa said as he walked out of the kitchen to see what was taking so long.

"D-Dad," Yumi stammered before taking a deep breath trying to calm herself. Sachiko knew she couldn't really do anything to calm her girlfriend right now without it seeming a little odd. She was just happy that Yumi seemed to snap out of it herself and give her father a hug. Yumi just hoped he wouldn't feel her heart beating like crazy, she was surprised it wasn't audible.

"It's good to see you both," her father said as he pulled away from the hug with his daughter. "Thank you for joining us, Sachiko."

"Thank you for having me," Sachiko simply responded with a warm smile, she was truly surprised she wasn't feeling nervous. She figured that part would come when Yumi was about to tell her parents.

"No need to thank us, you know you are practically family here," Yumi's father replied with a smile before hearing his wife call for him. "Why don't you two get settled in, dinner is just about ready."

"Thanks dad," Yumi said as he turned to head back into the kitchen. Yumi took a deep breath once he was gone. These nerves would be the end of her.

"I'll give you two a minute," Yuuki said towards Sachiko who just gave a thankful nod before turning to Yumi.

Without any words, Sachiko just simply wrapped her arms around Yumi pulling her into a hug. Yumi took a deep breath before leaning into the hug.

"You know you don't look as nervous as I know you feel," Sachiko pointed out as Yumi smiled.

". . .Thank you for always knowing what to say when I need to hear it."

"I don't always say the right thing," Sachiko replied thinking back on the morning she chose Suguru, something she never planned on doing again.

Yumi seemed to pick up on what she was saying though and pulled away from the hug, "we all make mistakes, but remember that I wouldn't be doing this tonight if I didn't love you and trust that you will tell your parents."

Sachiko just simply nodded as she looked down to the floor. She didn't know what to say, every time she thought of that morning she felt so guilty.

"Hey," Yumi said lifting Sachiko's head so that she could see her, "that is behind us. Right now, I only want to look ahead."

Sachiko nodded, Yumi was right, she shouldn't be worried about what happened right now anyways. She was given a chance to fix her mistake, she just had to keep looking forward to a future with Yumi and fix what she had done.

Yumi smiled as she saw Sachiko's expression soften, she knew her words had gotten through to her. "We should probably head into the kitchen, I'm sure my mom is waiting."

Sachiko grabbed Yumi's wrist just as she was about to start heading towards the kitchen. "I love you and thank you for everything."

"I love you too," Yumi smiled before taking Sachiko's hand in her own and leading her towards the kitchen where her family was.

"Hey mom," Yumi said as she mother looked up from what she was doing and instantly smiled.

"You two are just in time. Dinner will be ready shortly," her mother replied before going over and giving them both a quick hug. "I'm glad you could join us Sachiko, it's been awhile since we've seen you."

"Thank you for having me," Sachiko replied as Yumi glanced over to the table that had already been set.

"Take a seat," her father said noticing Yumi looking over at the table.

"You don't need any help?" Yumi asked knowing that if she sat down the questions were coming.

"Everything is pretty much done, Yumi. We were just waiting for you two to arrive," her mother responded. Yumi nodded before leading Sachiko over to the table and grabbing a chair while Sachiko took the one next to her.

"So how is school going? I hope you two are able to visit one another more often now that you both are back in the same school?"

"School is good," Yumi said with a nod as she thought about Sachiko basically living with her in her dorm now, a fact she was rather happy about. "Sachiko comes to my dorm room pretty much every day she is at school."

"Well, I hope that is enough reason to keep your dorm clean. I remember how you used to scramble to clean up your bedroom when she was coming over," her father laughed as Yumi's face turned red.

"You did that for me?" Sachiko asked as Yumi's head hung lower if possible.

"I-I. . ."

"It was the only reliable way we could get her to clean that room," her mother added as she walked over and set a dish down on the table.

Sachiko smiled, partially because she thought it was funny and partially because even though Yumi was embarrassed. Whether Yumi realized it or not, her nerves weren't present at the time because of this.

"My room was never that messy," she pointed out though it only caused her mother to chuckle as she grabbed the last of the meal and brought it to the table before calling Yuuki.

"Not when she was coming around. Yumi has always been so... particular, about you though," her mother said as she took her seat.

"It's not every day she got to come over, her family keeps her very busy," Yumi tried to argue, but Sachiko knew the real reason and she thought it was cute that Yumi tried to always make things perfect for her.

"Speaking of which, your wedding is coming soon after college, isn't it?" Yumi's father asked curiously.

Sachiko glanced to Yumi quickly who was frozen with close to a million thoughts per second running through her mind. It might be a good opportunity to tell them, but they had just got there.

Taking note of Yumi's body language, Sachiko looked to Yumi's father, "It isn't happening anymore."

"Really? What happened?" Yumi's mother asked as Sachiko remained silent for a moment. She wasn't sure what to say, this was definitely a good opportunity to tell them, but she wasn't sure if Yumi was ready.

"S-she met someone," Yumi answered with a racing heart.

"Oh, when did this happen?"

"Awhile ago," Yumi answered again, she could feel the hole she was digging, she knew her mother was all too curious about things like this.

Yumi's mother raised an eyebrow, Yumi's answers were rather short which wasn't typical of her daughter. "How long is awhile?"

"Since high school."

"You have been dating this boy since Yumi was in high school and I hadn't heard about it yet?" Yumi's mother asked Sachiko this time. Yumi didn't' seem to want to talk about it very much.

Sachiko's cheeks reddened a little which didn't go unnoticed by Yumi's mother, "Y-yes, we've been dating for that long. We've been pretty quiet about our relationship."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me," Yumi's mother said looking at Yumi who just gave a quick smile to acknowledge she heard her mother before looking back down at her food.

"So, tell me all about him. Where did you meet him? Is he in college? How serious is your relationship?" Yumi's mother asked in rapid succession. Sachiko was comfortable enough with Yumi's family that this was acceptable and more so normal at this point.

"Dear, one question at a time," Yumi's father said as Yumi's mother apologized.

"It's fine," Sachiko reassured him. "We met at school, kind of on accident," Sachiko said remembering how she had absent mindedly fixed Yumi's scarf all that time ago. "We became friends very quickly after that, and our relationship stayed like that for awhile. Our friends seemed to notice there was something more and kind of gave us a push to explore that."

"Smart friends, I hope Yumi was as much a part of your happiness as the rest of them."

Sachiko's smile brightened a little more as she glanced to Yumi who seemed to be listening intently to what she was saying. "She was the biggest part of it, actually. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be in this relationship."

"I can't believe this was happening and Yumi didn't even mention it."

"It was because of the marriage," Sachiko quickly replied trying to take the focus off of Yumi. "We weren't sure what would come us because of the marriage."

"So what did you do?"

"I did what I should have done a long time ago. I confronted my parents about the marriage and told them about the person I was really in love with," Sachiko explained as she thought about that dinner date with Yumi coming up. This may have been a lie right now, but it would all be coming true here soon. "It took them time, but I wasn't giving up. Eventually they gave in and called off the wedding."

"If the wedding is called off does that mean you can marry whoever you want now. . .? Are you even thinking marriage is a possibility here?" Yumi's mother asked curiously.

Sachiko thought about it for a moment, she knew anything said here could be brought up again when they knew the truth. "I think it is a very big possibility, we just have to get through college first."

Yumi stared at Sachiko for a moment, she wasn't sure what she was feeling. She was nervous but at the same time, hearing Sachiko speak of their relationship like this was making her fall in love with her even more.

"Oh, that is so exciting. When do we get to meet him?" Yumi's mother asked as Sachiko paused trying to think her way out of this one.

"You already have," Yumi answered as she felt her heart stop. She couldn't believe what she had just said, but hearing Sachiko mention marriage was making her feel and think things she didn't' think she possibly could with her nerves where they were right now.

Sachiko's breath caught in her throat as she heard the words leave Yumi's mouth.

"It's me," Yumi continued as she looked down at her plate.

"It's you?" Yumi's mother asked a moment later as Yumi nodded her head.

There was a long silence at the table. Yumi was unsure of what she should think, she was a little frightened right now. Sachiko on the other hand felt like she had all of the sudden overstayed her welcome.

"So," Yumi's father said breaking the tension in the air, "is all of what you just said true?"

Sachiko swallowed the lump in her throat before looking up at Yumi's father and nodding. "Yes, sir; Everything I said was true and it was all about, Yumi."

Yumi's father just nodded as he looked to his wife who looked almost confused.

"So you two are dating. . .?" Yumi's mother finally asked not really sure what she should say at this time.

"We've been dating," Yumi answered before looking up at her parents. She was still nervous, but now that the idea of them together was out there, it was easier to speak. "Sachiko is my girlfriend, she has been for a long time now, that is why I didn't tell you she was seeing someone."

"I don't know what to say," Yumi's mother responded a minute later.

Yumi just remained silent not sure what to say either. She didn't think he mother was upset, she still looked a little confused, but Yumi guessed she was just deep in thought.

"Perhaps, it's best if we finish dinner, then we can talk about this?" Yumi's father suggested with a quick smile towards his daughter.

It was a small gesture but it relaxed both girls immensely. Yumi's father didn't seem bothered by the fact. If he was, he was hiding it well, but Yumi was certain that wasn't the case.

"I think that is a good idea," Yumi's mother said as both girls nodded.

Dinner went by relatively silent, Yumi's father tried to make small conversation to lighten the mood a little, but it didn't really work. The only answers he was greeted with were very short and to the point. When he noticed Sachiko and Yumi just kind of poking at their food he decided maybe it was time to talk. There was no point sitting here waiting if they couldn't eat due to nerves, which he figured was the case.

"Are you done eating?" Yumi's father asked his wife as she glanced to her food and nodded. "Alright, why don't we head into the living room and talk then."

Yumi looked up at her father for a moment before turning to Sachiko. The look in her eyes was one Sachiko hadn't seen before and she hoped she never have to again, Yumi was terrified. All Sachiko wanted to do was hug her, but she knew right now might not be the best time with her parents at the table.

All she could do was give Yumi a reassuring smile as best she could, deep down she was also quite nervous about how this would go. Yumi's father seemed to be taking it well, but Yumi's mother had barely said a word.

"We'll be waiting, don't take too long," her father said as he left the kitchen with his wife. He made sure that Yuuki had gone up to his room too, he could tell the two girls were scared.

Once her parents were out of the kitchen, Yumi took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves, but it didn't work at all. "I can't believe I said it."

"You did wonderful," Sachiko commented before turning in her seat to face Yumi better. "I've never done this before, but I think the way this is going is good so far. "

"I just wish my mother would say something," Yumi sighed, "I'm so worried about what she will eventually say."

Sachiko nodded, "I think maybe she is just a little overwhelmed. You're mother is incredibly kind, Yumi."

"I know, but it doesn't make it less scary," Yumi frowned before feeling Sachiko's lips on her forehead as she was pulled in for a hug.

"Everything will be fine," Sachiko whispered as she rested her head on Yumi's. "Just remember that no matter what happens in there, I will still be here and just as in love with you as I am now."

Yumi took a deep breath before pulling away from the hug and looking at Sachiko for a moment before nodding her head. It was all the queue Sachiko needed as she stood from her chair with Yumi before offering her hand. Yumi took it quickly, it was small, but oddly comforting. A small reminder that what she was about to do was completely worth it.

When she walked into the living room she found her parents sitting on the couch talking. Unfortunately for her nerves, that talking seemed to stop the instant they were noticed entering the room. Yumi led Sachiko to a seat across from her parents before sitting down herself.

"So you're in love?" Her mother asked as a way to get the conversation started.

Both girls just simply nodded, the question was simple, but they decided treading carefully may be best until they knew her mood.

"It sounds like you have been together for some time now. When did it happen?" Yumi's father asked curiously as the Yumi glanced to Sachiko for a moment before looking back at her father.

"I think it happened right away," Yumi said remembering back on that day that Sachiko had fixed her scarf. "I think I always knew I liked her, but when we first met, I wasn't sure what it meant. I didn't really start to realize that I liked her a lot more than a friend until after I had known her for a little bit. Yoshino-san seemed to noticed though and made me seriously think about my feelings. . . I was and still am in love with Sachiko."

Sachiko smiled as she glanced to Yumi before surprising Yumi's parents and speaking, "I was a little different. I had always realized I was little different then most girls with my general distaste in men. I didn't give it much thought though, until I met Yumi. Fixing her scarf that day was...I don't know. I remember thinking how weird it was, that whoever that girl was must think I'm crazy. She found her way back to me though and once I started getting to know her my world turned upside down. It was like all these pieces of a puzzle I didn't even know existed started falling into place. I learned a lot about myself and fell in love."

"It has indeed been a long time if you were both still in high school," her father commented as both girls nodded again. "It's a little hard to wrap my head around, but I have to ask it. Were you serious about wanting to marry my daughter?"

Sachiko glanced to Yumi briefly before looking at Yumi's father and nodding. "Yes, everything I said was mostly true."

"Mostly true? Which part wasn't?" Yumi's father asked curiously.

"I'm... I'm still to be married to Suguru," Sachiko answered in a small voice. She was scared of what Yumi's parents would think of that. Would they take their relationship seriously if Sachiko was to be married off still?

"Oh."

Sachiko's heart sank at Yumi's mothers response. She was already thinking of all the ways she could talk her way out of this spot. She needed to convince them that this wasn't a problem.

"We are telling her parents in the next few weeks," Yumi said in defense of Sachiko.

"What if they don't cancel the wedding?" Yumi's father asked curiously as Yumi looked to Sachiko. She could tell Sachiko was bouncing around all of this in her head right now.

"They will have to," Yumi said putting on a small smile. It was all she could muster, because truthfully she knew they may not call it off. "It will be kind off odd marrying their lesbian daughter to a man."

There was a silence as Yumi's parents shared a look that expressed the same concern. For now, they would let this go.

"I see; Is that what you consider yourself?" Yumi's father asked as Yumi raised an eyebrow momentarily before realizing what he was asking.

"A lesbian?" Yumi asked before looking anywhere but at her parents and nodding, "yes... I am a lesbian."

Yumi's mother looked away, but said nothing. Perhaps hearing the truth said out loud was hard for her to handle. Unfortunately, her silence would only leave Yumi wondering what she really felt. There were very few things on this planet that would leave her mother speechless.

"What about you, Sachiko?" Yumi's father asked.

Sachiko turned to him and nodded, "I am and I love your daughter very much. I will get out of this marriage no matter what it takes," she said in a somewhat desperate voice still hung up on the marriage thing.

Yumi's father just simply smiled, it was the first time he had seen and heard any emotion from Sachiko. It only helped him accept the idea that they really were in love, not that he doubted it. It just wasn't easy to hear that your daughter has been living a secret life for the past few years. Simple words just didn't seem to do it justice, at least not now.

"I'm sorry if you're upset," Yumi said after a moments silence. She wanted to reinforce what Sachiko said a little. "I love Sachiko and I don't want to have to hide it anymore. She has been my girlfriend for so long and it hurts every time I have to ignore that fact to keep our secret. We've discussed the next step in our relationship and decided that is telling our families. If our families know, then the wedding can be called off and we can start deciding how we want to live our life together."

Yumi's father nodded, "I think that is a good start."

". . .Is that why you asked if Sachiko could come with us this weekend?" Yumi's mother asked as her mind connected the dots.

Yumi nodded, "I want to introduce her as my girlfriend to the rest of the family."

"That is a big step," her father commented as Yumi nodded again. "I suppose if you two are really serious about possibly marrying in the future though, it is a necessary step."

Yumi just blinked a few times in response to her fathers response. He spoke about their relationship so naturally, as if he had known for years.

"We are serious," Yumi finally managed to say. "That is why we need to tell everyone and get this marriage cancelled."

There was another long silence before Yumi's father cleared his throat. "Well, I think I've heard enough for tonight. We need to finish up our packing and get to bed. We will be leaving early tomorrow morning, so don't stay up too late."

"Thank you for talking with us," Yumi's mother said before standing from her seat and leaving the room to head to her bedroom.

"As I said, we will be leaving early in the morning, so if you need to go back to your dorm and get clothes that is fine. Just be here around seven in the morning. We will be needing to take two cars since Sachiko is coming though."

Yumi couldn't hide the smile on her face at the mention of Sachiko coming with them. "We already packed for the trip... Just in case this went well enough for her to come with."

Yumi's father looked at her confused for a moment, "to put your mind at rest, I am perfectly alright with it. I just want you to be happy Yumi. I know your mother didn't say much, but she is dealing with this in her own way. We both want you and Yuuki to live your lives the way you want to. If you two are happy together, then I have no problems. This just may take awhile to kind of sink in, I hope you two can forgive me for any awkwardness."

Yumi stood from her seat to go over and give her father a long hug, "thank you, dad. You have no idea how scared I was."

He smiled and patted her back a little, "thank you for telling us. I think I should probably head to bed though, I need to finish packing. You two are welcome to stay here if you like."

"Thank you," Sachiko said standing from her seat to bow a little in appreciation.

He just simply gave a nod before leaving the room.

Yumi waited until she heard his bedroom door shut before turning to Sachiko and pulling her into a kiss. She knew this was a bad place to do it, especially after what had just happened, but this was her small celebration.

When the kiss finally broke only a smile remained on Yumi's face as she grabbed Sachiko's hand. "Let's go grab our stuff from the car and bring it up to my room. Tonight, I just want to hold you."

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright so I have a few things I want to talk about. Mainly the ending is different. I originally had the conversation a lot shorter which I didn't like. I run into an issue where I will type it and it took a while because of deleting and rephrasing and when I'm done, I see a page written and I'm like yea, that seems like a good length. I think a conversation about this type of thing would be longer myself. Then when I read it, I realized how incredibly short it was. I went through and extended it. Yumi's parents originally didn't ask too much or say too much. It left Yumi lost and not sure what she should think, the original ending had Sachiko holding her as they fell asleep.

I felt throughout the chapter that Yumi's father was giving off a vibe that everything was alright, and that is where I wanted it to be. Her mother is still the mystery, but I wanted it apparent that her father seemed to be taking this news rather...Okay.

I also realized towards the end of this that Youko has completely dropped off the face of the planet. It has to do with the sudden story switch I kind of did, which I explained in a previous chapter. Anyways, I wanted this chapter to be completely focused around them, she will return.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Hello, so I'm sorry about the post time for this. I had to get to my anniversary story which actually took a little longer than I planned on it taking. Then I decided what I had written wasn't good enough, so I kind of restarted this chapter. On a much more sad note, we lost our dog Hallie to old age on 7/21. We've had her since I was about 12-13 and I didn't take it too well. I just didn't really feel like doing much writing or anything. I feel like I'm still in the process of getting used to not seeing her around the house. I don't see her in one room and just kind of automatically assume she is in another. Sorry, I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad, I just wanted to update you on the post delay.

As always, thank you in advance for reading, following, reviewing, and sending those PM's. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Yumi jerked awake as she felt an arm tighten around her stomach. The feeling was immediately relaxing as she took a deep breath and realized she was in bed with Sachiko. Like she had thought the night before, she didn't get much sleep and when she did sleep, she kept having bizarre dreams all revolving around what happened the night before.

She sighed wondering what this day would be like. Her father had said those encouraging words, but her mother hadn't really said anything. She wondered if what her father had said about her mother needing time was true.

"Hey, go back to sleep, we still have a few hours before we need to be up," Sachiko whispered as Yumi yawned again, but acknowledged her by giving her hand a squeeze that was resting on her stomach.

"I will try, sorry for waking you."

Sachiko smiled before placing a gentle kiss on the back of Yumi's neck and snuggling closer if that were even possible. "Don't worry about it, I just know you are having difficulty sleeping tonight."

"Do I keep waking you?" Yumi asked feeling a little bad that she had kept Sachiko up too.

"No, I keep waking up on my own. I guess last night took its toll on me worse than I thought," Sachiko said with a yawn. She was still feeling like she shouldn't be there right now. She worried Yumi's mother wasn't comfortable with it.

"Anything specifically?" Yumi asked curious as to what was on Sachiko's mind.

There was a brief pause before Sachiko finally spoke again, "your mother."

Yumi took a deep breath, it seemed she wasn't the only one bothered by her mother's lack of opinion. "She has me worried too. She barely said anything, but even if she was upset, I don't think she would say anything directly to you."

"Your relationship with your mother is important. I worry what she will say to you. I don't want to ruin your relationship with your mother," Sachiko said with a sigh as Yumi took this as her queue to roll over so she was face to face with her, even if it was pitch black in her room.

"You are not ruining anything," Yumi stated very clearly as she rested a hand gently on Sachiko's cheek. "I am worried about what she will say, I love my mother. . . Even so, if her words are hurtful, I will still be with you. I told my parents about us because I want you to be a part of everything in my life. I love you and-" Sachiko sniffled as Yumi raised an eyebrow, "Sachiko?"

"I don't deserve you," she simply responded. "You are too amazing to me, especially after what I did. I haven't even told my parents yet and you still talk to me like nothing happened."

"Shh," Yumi said she rubbed Sachiko's cheek for a moment. "I already told you that I did all of this because I trust you will tell your parents and because I love you. I know you made a mistake, but everyone does. I may have overreacted that morning, I know best out of all of our friend's the situation that you are in. I know it's hard, tonight was hard, but having you with me makes it a lot easier. Thinking about a possible future together makes it all worth it. I would trade the world to spend the rest of my life with you. You're my Sachiko, and I love you."

Sachiko smiled even if it was too dark to see. It amazed her how Yumi could go through a night like this and still be so extremely supportive and understanding of her problems. "I love you too. I just wish I was as strong as you are. If I was, then this whole Suguru situation could have been avoided that morning."

"Once we tell your parents, I think the Suguru situation will be solved once and for all. We can truly start living our lives together after that, which for me was all the encouragement I needed to tell my parents."

Sachiko's smile grew a little as she thought about a future where Yumi was her wife. She imagined their wedding day and what it would be like. This future is what she wanted.

"What are you thinking about?" Yumi asked figuring Sachiko was thinking about that possible future.

Sachiko leaned forward a little and kissed Yumi on the lips. "I am thinking that telling my parents will be the best decision I ever made with the future I'm thinking of."

Yumi smiled this time, there was a confidence in Sachiko's voice that had been absent before. "Good, now let's agree to just keep thinking about happy things for tonight. Tomorrow is coming faster than I want it too."

"That sounds good to me, goodnight, Yumi."

"Goodnight, Sachiko."

 **The next morning**

 _Knock, knock, knock. . ._

"Yumi, it's time to get up, we are leaving in an hour," her brother said as Yumi groaned a little. The feeling of not enough sleep hit her full force.

"This is going to be a long day," she sighed before opening her eyes and seeing Sachiko trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Both girls were like zombies crawling out of bed, all either of them wanted was to go back to sleep. "Would you like to take a shower first?"

Sachiko just simply nodded slowly before grabbing some clothes to change into and headed towards the bathroom. Thankfully Yumi's parents stayed downstairs for the most part, Yumi and Yuuki basically had the upstairs to themselves. It was very unlikely that she would run into Yumi's parents.

Yumi just sighed once Sachiko was out of the room. They needed coffee, but that would require her to go downstairs which was low on her list of things she wanted to do right now. She knew it would help both of them wake up a bit though, so after a few minutes of grumbling and changing into something she decided to head down.

When she entered the kitchen she was greeted with the sight of her parents sitting at the table talking. Unfortunately for her, the talking stopped when she entered the room. She felt like she had committed a crime by the way her mother looked at her.

"Good morning," her father said a moment later as Yumi glanced up from the floor. She felt so small right now. Especially with the way her mother was just staring at her.

"Good morning," Yumi replied though it came out pretty weak.

There was a long moment where nothing was said and no one moved, Yumi wasn't sure what she should do. She felt like turning around and going back up to her room, but things couldn't be like this forever. She was scared to face her own mother.

Yumi's father cleared his throat sensing the awkward tension, "were you looking for something?" He asked curiously as Yumi finally lifted her gaze from the floor and nodded.

"I just wanted to get something to eat for me and. . ." Yumi's eye's rested on her mother for a moment as she lost her words. She couldn't tell what her mother was thinking, she just stared with a blank look on her face. "Sachiko. . . I will just grab something before we leave though."

Yumi's father sighed as he watched her quickly turn and leave the kitchen.

Once she was back up in her room, Yumi sat on the edge of her bed and took a deep breath. Somehow she was more frightened to see her mother now than she was last night when she told them. The silence was definitely frightening, the staring even worse. She had never seen her mother like that before.

She trusted her dad when he said that everything was alright, but right now nothing seemed alright. Would her mother be like this at her families house? Yumi sighed thinking about how that would go. Was her mother ashamed of her? Did she actually approve of her decision?

Yumi shook the thoughts out of her head before looking over at her dresser where a picture of her and Sachiko sat. It brought a smile to her face as she thought of that day and all the other days leading up to yesterday. Even if her mother didn't approve and Sachiko had made that mistake, Yumi still knew that this is what she wanted. However, if her mother wasn't so sure about it, Yumi wondered if they should bother going with on this family trip.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Sachiko asked as she walked back into Yumi's bedroom.

Yumi looked up from the floor and went to nod but stopped herself. She sighed, "no, I went to get us something to eat and my mom, she just. . ." Yumi shook her head feeling really discouraged, "I'm not sure if we should go on this trip. I'm not sure my mother approves of my decision, and this could put a lot of stress on us and-"

"We don't have to go," Sachiko said interrupting Yumi. "There will be another get together, and if your parents still need time then that is fine. I don't want to put you under that much stress, and maybe it is best if we get your mother time to process a little."

Yumi looked at Sachiko for a minute before finally nodding, "I think she does need time. Perhaps telling everyone I know as soon as I can isn't the best plan," she explained before frowning. "I am ready to tell them, but I think I should give my mom some time first."

Sachiko went over to Yumi's bed and took a seat next to her before taking her hands in her own. "I will support you in whatever decision you make. I just don't want you stressed about telling your family and worried that your mother is disappointed."

"I don't think we should go. . . Not yet anyways," Yumi said in a small voice. She really did want to tell her family, but she thought it might not be fair to her mother. "I think she needs time."

"Then time is what we will give her," Sachiko said with a smile and a hug trying to cheer Yumi up.

"I should probably tell my dad then," Yumi reasoned as she thought about going back downstairs to where her mother was. ". . .I don't really want to go back down there."

"I will go with you if you would like," Sachiko offered as Yumi paused for a moment before nodding. Sachiko said no more, she just simply stood and held out a hand for Yumi to take.

Once they were down the stairs Yumi breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her father sitting at the table alone. He didn't seem to notice them enter the kitchen, so Yumi let go of Sachiko's hand and went over to him. "Hey, dad. . ."

"Oh, hey, I didn't hear you come in," he said finally turning and noticing Sachiko standing near the entrance to the kitchen. "Good morning to you both."

"W-we're not going," Yumi blurted out, it hadn't really hit her until now that she might have to explain herself to her father.

"What? Why not?" He asked curiously as he glanced between the two girls.

Yumi glanced back to ensure her mother wasn't in the kitchen before turning back to her father. "I-I don't think it's a good time to tell them. I don't think mom is taking it too well. I. . . I think maybe I need to give her more time to think about this."

Yumi father nodded, his expression kind of told Yumi that this wasn't really a surprise. "Is that why you left the kitchen earlier?" He asked as Yumi put her head down but nodded. "I kind of figured," he sighed. "I won't force you to go if you don't want to. I don't think your mother is upset, I think she is just. . . shocked, maybe."

Yumi didn't look at him, she just nodded.

"I assume you will be going back to the dorms then?" He asked curiously as she nodded again. "Alright, I will let your mother know. Call me if you need anything."

"I will," Yumi replied before pausing. "Thank you, dad."

He just smiled and waved her off as she went back to Sachiko and took her hand. "We are going out to get breakfast, this morning has been stressful."

 **About an hour later. . .**

Yumi took a bite of her bagel before glancing out the window they were sitting next to. She had a lot on her mind, mainly what her mother was thinking right now. They hadn't stuck around to see how she reacted when her father told her that they weren't going. She wondered if he told her the real reason they weren't going. She also wondered what he really thought about that reason.

There were so many things she wished she could know, but either way, she was sitting across from her now known girlfriend, Sachiko. That was enough to make her smile even though she was so full of questions.

She watched intently as Sachiko lifted the lid off her coffee before taking a very small sip before blowing on it some. After another try, she just simply set it down on the small table to let it cool for a moment. That is when she noticed Yumi staring at her.

"Is everything alright?" Sachiko asked as Yumi finally blinked and glanced down to her coffee.

She couldn't help but smile to the fact that Sachiko had caught her, "yes, I was just thinking."

"About what?" Sachiko asked curiously though she was pretty certain she knew exactly what it was about.

"How lucky I am to call you my girlfriend," Yumi replied causing Sachiko to smile only briefly before reminding her of her current situation.

"After what happened, I feel I'm really the lucky one," Sachiko said glancing down at her coffee. "I messed up, but soon I will correct that mistake as best I can."

"I will be right there with you when you do, just like you were for me."

Sachiko smiled at her for a moment before being distracted by her cell phone buzzing on the table in front of her. Her smile turned into a frown when she saw it was her mother. It had been awhile since she had been home or talked with her mother.

"Hello," she answered as she glanced to Yumi who seemed to catch on that she didn't want to answer this phone.

 _"Oh, you answered this time," Sayako said as if surprised. "I tried to call you last night, but you didn't pick up."_

"Sorry, I was with Yumi last night. I must have missed it," she replied thinking about the night before.

 _"Oh, what were you doing?"_

"What were we doing?" Sachiko asked as she looked directly at Yumi silently pleading for help.

Yumi scrambled to think of an excuse, but everything she thought of that they usually did sounded like a date to her.

"Movie! We went to a movie," Sachiko said as the thought popped into her mind. "It was late when it ended, so I stayed at her house...err, dorm."

 _Sayako remained silent for a moment, she could tell Sachiko was a little flustered by the question. She decided for now to play along. "That sounds fun, which movie did you go and see?"_

Sachiko's breath caught in her throat. She had no idea what movies were in theater."W-Which movie. . .? I... I can't recall the name of it," Sachiko said a little more awkwardly than she wanted to.

Her mother raised an eyebrow curiously before finally asking, "is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine," Sachiko responded hoping her mother would forget about the movie.

Sayako wasn't convinced, but she decided to let it go for now, she could figure it out later. "Well, I was calling to ask when you planned on being home again? Yumi-chan might like a little privacy. Even if you two are best friends."

Sachiko rolled her eyes, "I promise you she is fine with it."

"Well regardless of how she feels, I need you home tonight. We are having dinner guests this evening, Suguru being one of them. I am requiring you to be there for your fiancé," her mother said in a tone that told her she wasn't accepting any other answer than yes.

Yumi saw the sudden mood change in Sachiko, she looked upset.

"I have plans already," Sachiko said a little bluntly as Yumi raised an eyebrow at her.

"Cancel them, I will not let you miss a dinner like this with your fiancé."

Sachiko looked at Yumi for a moment, that ice princess expression from high school was making itself present again. Whatever they were talking about, Sachiko did not like it. Yumi did all she could, which was reach across the small table and take Sachiko's hand in her own.

Sachiko glanced to their hands for a moment before speaking again, "I will not be attending dinner tonight. Furthermore," she paused taking a deep breath. "I want out of this marriage."

Yumi's eyes went wide as she heard the words leave Sachiko's lips. Now she was really curious to hear what the conversation was about.

"What?" Sayako asked taken back by what her daughter had just said. "You want to cancel the marriage? What about Suguru? What about the compan-"

"What about it?" Sachiko snapped before her mother could go on. "All you care about is making sure Suguru has me hanging off his arm when he is over. Why? So, the company can make a little more money? I refuse to marry that man."

The phone line went silent for a few seconds before Sayako finally spoke again in a somewhat grim tone. "Sachiko, I want you home right this instant."

"No," Sachiko interrupted firmly as she kept her eyes on Yumi who was shocked at her girlfriend's semi controlled outburst. They were in public, but Sachiko did manage to keep her voice at a decent level.

"Just wait until I tell your father about this," Sayako simply responded shocked by her daughter's behavior.

"When you do mention to him that I'm not going through with this marriage. I found someone else," Sachiko said as her own eyes went wide and she covered her mouth with her hand for a second. She couldn't believe what she just said. How could she have let that slip?

"What?! Who is this man? Sachiko have you been lying to me about staying at Yumi's-"

"I have to go," Sachiko said as she pulled the phone away from her ear and pressed the red end button. She just starred at her phone for a moment before turning it off and looking at Yumi with a deep breath. "We might need to stay at Onee-sama's tonight."

* * *

 **A/N:** :xSorry for leaving you hanging!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Hello! I feel that I need to apologize a little. The last chapter had a cliffhanger and because of that I wanted to get this chapter out much faster so everyone didn't have to wait. I had this chapter almost done as of two weeks ago. Then I started a part time job at night for some extra money. I had an interview that same week and ended up in contact with someone that I did work for previously and am now working on a website for them. In other words, my life went from not doing much to having lots to do in a week. So I had to put this on hold for a little longer than I wanted. However, I just got done going through it and I've added some things that I think needed to be changed, so I think overall it is better because of the wait.

Anyways, that was a small update and explanation for what happened. I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always thanks for any reviews and pm's.

 **Side note:** If you sent me a private message and I didn't respond, please just send me another letting me know. I sometimes read them with intentions of replying later when I have time then forget! I won't be bothered at all if you send me a message that just says "reply." I am also sorry if I have done this to you!

* * *

Youko lifted her head from her laptop she had been working at as she heard her cellphone start ringing. She looked to the small table on her right and then around her before realizing it was behind the laptop. Her heart sank when she was it was Yumi calling, the first thought in her mind was that Sachiko screwed up again.

"Hello?" Youko answered cautiously.

"Hello, Onee-sama," Sachiko answered as Youko raised an eyebrow before pulling the phone away from her face to ensure she had seen the caller correctly.

"Sachiko? Why do you have Yumi's phone?"

"No time to explain. Could you meet us at Yumi's dorm room in the next twenty minutes or so and would you mind if we spend the night? The sooner the better."

Youko blinked once or twice before looking at the laptop in front of her. What she was working on was mostly done and not super important at the moment. "Uhh, yea, I can be there in about ten minutes."

"Thank you," Sachiko said with relief evident in her voice. "We will see you when you arrive."

* * *

 **About ten to fifteen minutes later. . .**

 _Knock, knock, knock..._

Both girls froze before looking at each other. Yumi had just put the last of her essential things in the bag they were taking to Youko's when they heard the knock on the door.

"Sachiko, Yumi, it's Youko," came a muffled voice through the door.

Sachiko took a deep breath as she zipped up the bag Yumi had been packing while Yumi went and opened the door. Before Youko could enter the room, both girls were walking out ready to leave.

"Why the rush?" Youko asked curiously as Yumi locked her dorm room door.

"I'm fairly certain my mother is on her way here," Sachiko said in a tone that told Youko that was a very bad thing. "The sooner we leave here, the better."

"Alright," Youko said as the girls started walking towards her car keeping a lookout for Sayako as they did. Thankfully, she was nowhere to be seen and the girls made it to Youko's car without hassle.

Sachiko put their bag in the backseat before climbing in the car and shutting the door.

"So, you mind telling me what is going on?" Youko asked as she started the car and pulled out of the parking space.

Sachiko thought about the situation for a moment before taking a deep breath, "I told my mother I want out of the marriage this morning."

"I take it that didn't go over to well?" Youko asked a moment later as Sachiko shook her head.

"Not really. What really upset her though was when I mentioned I wanted out of it because I was seeing someone. Now she thinks I've been lying to her about staying at Yumi's and that instead I've been out with some guy."

"Well that doesn't good. Did you tell her the truth?"

"No," Sachiko frowned as she leaned her head against the window. "I panicked and kind of just hung up on her. She wanted me to come home so I could be Suguru's dinner guest at my own home. I refused to do it, I told her I wanted out of the marriage, then I let it slip that I was seeing someone else."

Yumi turned in the front seat so she could see Sachiko better. "If it means anything, I'm glad you did what you did."

Sachiko glanced from the window to Yumi who was smiling at her. She couldn't help but feel a little at ease and smile back, "I guess if I think about it, the slip was a good thing, I was just hoping her reaction wouldn't have been so... upset."

"I bet telling her you're dating cute little Yumi-chan will make all of this problem go away. Your parents love Yumi-chan," Youko explained as Yumi blushed a little.

"It will certainly ease her mind to know that I haven't been running around with some boy," Sachiko said disgusted at the thought.

Yumi chuckled at Sachiko's expression, it made her wonder how her parents didn't have any idea of her sexual preference. Sachiko raised an eyebrow at Yumi curiously, before shaking her head and smiling herself. Yumi always seemed to understand what she was thinking.

Youko glanced to Yumi for a moment before looking back to the road. Yumi barely had to do anything to make Sachiko smile, even when she was under a lot of stress.

"So why are you hiding from your mother anyway? Don't you want her to know?" Youko asked as Sachiko nodded.

"Yes, but she was very upset on the phone when I mentioned I wanted to have the marriage cancelled. I was hoping this might get it through to them that I am serious," Sachiko explained before looking at Yumi for a few moments. "I didn't mean to tell her I was seeing someone yet, but the next time I speak with her, she will know it's Yumi. I think I just need a little time like she does."

"What do you think?" Youko asked glancing to Yumi.

"I am happy and relieved," Yumi said as Sachiko glanced to her curious as to what she had to say. They hadn't really had a chance to properly talk since the phone call this morning. "The wedding isn't cancelled, yet, but the steps to making that happen are finally starting. I am sad that we are having to avoid her mother, but at the same time I am so happy for the reason we are avoiding her."

"We will get it cancelled," Sachiko said a moment later as Yumi glanced back to her smiling.

"I know," Yumi replied. "I just can't explain how happy it makes me to finally see that things are starting to happen."

"I'm happy too, even if I'm not showing it very well right now."

Youko smiled, "well you two are welcome to stay here as long as you want," she explained as she pulled into the driveway. "If I know your mother though, she will be here soon. Bring your stuff up to your room. I'll deal with your mother when she gets here."

* * *

 **Later that afternoon. . .**

"Everything is going to be fine," Yumi said as she leaned forward and gave Sachiko a kiss on the lips before resting her forehead against Sachiko's. This took Sachiko's eyes off the door to their room where a faint muffled conversation could be heard coming from. Sachiko's mother had not only come over, it seemed she was in the house talking with Youko now. "You know Youko-sama can handle your mother, probably better than any of your friends."

"I know, I'm just. . . My mother can be ridiculous and I gave her good reason to look for me, but at the same time, she must be extremely upset," Sachiko reasoned.

"Perhaps you should call her later then? You're right, she probably thinks you are running around with some boy right now. Let her know you aren't staying with a boy, maybe push the issue of cancelling the marriage," Yumi suggested as Sachiko remained silent for a moment.

"Won't she figure out that I'm with a girl then?" Sachiko asked thinking about how that conversation would go. If she told her mother she wasn't out with some boy, then she was at her friends, which would make one of them a liar about not knowing where she was, or she would just maybe figure out that she was out with a girl.

"Maybe," Yumi replied before going quiet again. ". . .Maybe that is the best way to do it though."

Sachiko looked into Yumi's eyes for a moment, "I still want to tell them in person, but I think maybe you're right. . . I wonder what they are talking about?"

. . .

Youko set a cup of tea down in front of Sayako before walking to the other side of the table and setting her own glass down before sitting. "So, she just hung up on you and now you can't find her?" Youko asked curiously.

"Yes, she told me she wanted out of the marriage and that she was seeing someone, then she just hung up. I went to Yumi-chan's dorm room, but she wasn't there. I tried calling her and Sachiko multiple times."

Youko pulled her phone out of her pocket and clicked the screen on for show before frowning, "I don't' have any missed calls or messages. It doesn't look like she has tried to contact me."

Sayako sighed before taking a sip of her tea. "I can't even imagine what she is thinking. Did you know about this mysterious person she is apparently dating?"

"I've had my suspicions, but I never confronted her and she had never told me anything," Youko explained before taking a sip of her own tea. "I've heard her make mention of not wanting to marry Suguru however."

"She did?"

Youko nodded, "that is why I had my suspicions about her seeing someone."

Sayako thought for a moment, "I wonder how serious she and this boy are."

Youko covered her mouth with a handle as she chuckled a little. Sayako raised an eyebrow at her odd behavior. "I'm sorry," Youko apologized, "I don't know if you should worry about her being serious with this _boy._ I like to think she would have told me if it were serious.

Sayako looked at Youko curiously for a moment, she didn't like that Youko seemed to make the situation seem less serious that it was. "The fact still stands that she is out there with some boy. . . What if she-" Sayako took a deep breath. "What if she gets pregnant?"

"Uhh, well," Youko said at a loss for words. She just couldn't imagine Sachiko pregnant. "I-I think Sachiko understands the consequences of something like that. I don't' know if I would worry about that so much."

"I wasn't worried about her running away when I woke up this morning," Sayako simply stated as Youko sighed seeing what Sachiko's mother was doing.

"You're right, I am just trying to make you feel better," Youko said as Sayako nodded and apologized. "Have you checked with Rei and Yoshino?"

"No, I didn't know which dorm was theirs."

Youko nodded before turning her phone back on, "listen, I will keep an eye out for her. If she calls me, texts me, comes here, or anything like that. You will be the first to know. Until then, I will give you their phone number so you can contact them," she explained as texted Sachiko's mother Rei's phone number before standing.

"I know you are worried, I am too. Unfortunately, we need to have faith that she won't do anything stupid. If I had to guess, she is afraid to face you after telling you she wants to cancel the wedding. Perhaps, she thinks doing this will show you that she is to be taken seriously about this."

Sayako nodded as they started walking towards the door, "I just hope she calls soon. Until then, I will have to talk to her father about her wanting to cancel the wedding."

"When she calls, and she will, I'm sure she would be much more willing to cooperate if you've at least taken her request seriously. She wants out of it, but she is scared to face you because she thinks there is no way it will happen."

Sayako stopped at the door and looked at Youko with an expression that was a mixture of disappointment and something sadder. "Thank you for telling me this."

"No problem," Youko said as she opened the door for Sayako. "I will call you if I find anything out. If she contacts you, would you send me a message of some sort to know she is alright?"

Sayako just simply nodded before walking towards her car. Youko stood in the doorway and waved before closing it and locking it with a deep breath.

After cleaning up the tea cups she headed towards the guest bedroom and knocked on the door. "Sachiko, Yumi, are you in there?"

"Coming," Youko heard through the door before it opened a moment later revealing Sachiko. Yumi was sitting on the edge of the bed. "You should call your mother sometime today."

Sachiko sighed, "I know I should," she replied before heading back into the room and sitting on the edge of the bed with Yumi again. "What did she say?"

"Well, she is worried that you might get pregnant running around with your supposed boyfriend. I didn't explain to her Yumi couldn't get you pregnant."

Yumi's face turned bright red as the words left her mouth before she covered her face. Youko just simply chuckled at her response.

"I didn't tell her you were with Yumi. I did push the fact that you want the marriage cancelled though. She didn't have much to say about it, except that she was going to speak with your father. I couldn't really gauge her reaction to the news very well. That being said, she is obviously worried about what you might possibly be getting into right now. Even if you don't want to talk to her right now, I think she deserves to know that her daughter isn't doing anything dangerous or potentially life ruining."

Sachiko nodded, "thank you for letting me know. I will send her a message or something later."

"Good, but for now that can wait," Youko said glancing at a wristwatch she had on. "It is getting to be about that time and you've both had a long day. I would also be the worst Onee-sama ever if I didn't make sure both of my younger sisters were fed. So, what sounds good for dinner?"

"You don't have to cook for us. If anything, we should be cooking for you as a thank you for letting us stay here," Yumi said as Youko dismissed what she said immediately with a wave of a hand.

"Nonsense, you and Sachiko may not be blood, but I consider you both my sisters. I am simply doing my part in helping you in your time of need," Youko explained as both girls smiled.

"Then at least let us help, it would be unfair for you to do everything."

"She is right," Sachiko said with a smile as Yumi looked at her. "Besides, I had a lot of fun the last time we cooked together," she explained before leaning over and giving Yumi a kiss.

Youko smiled, "then it's settled. Let's go find something to eat."

* * *

 **A few hours later. . .**

Sachiko sighed as she looked down at her phone trying to figure out what to do. She was torn between sending a text to her mother and actually calling her. She knew a call would be much better in this situation, but she wasn't sure she was ready to do that. She wished there was just someway the phone wouldn't ring and instead just go to voicemail.

"Everything alright?"

"Yes, I was just-" Sachiko's breath caught in her throat at the sight before her. Yumi had just come out of the shower and had the towel wrapped tightly around her showing off her figure. "-Just, thinking of...my phone."

Yumi raised an eyebrow curiously before turning and looking at Sachiko. "You were thinking of your phone?"

Sachiko shook her head, "no, I meant to say that I'm thinking about how to contact my mother."

"She would probably prefer a call," Yumi said as she turned her back to Sachiko and let her towel drop before grabbing some clothes.

Sachiko's eyes instantly traveled down Yumi's body as soon as the towel hit the floor. She bit her bottom lip when Yumi bent over to put on her panties.

"Did you hear me?" Yumi asked when Sachiko didn't respond.

"I did," Sachiko replied before taking a deep breath to calm herself as Yumi pulled a shirt over her head before joining Sachiko in bed.

"Are you going to call her now?" Yumi asked curiously as she glanced to the phone in Sachiko's hands. "You don't have to stay on the phone with her. Just let her know that everything is alright and that you haven't done anything dangerous."

"You're right," Sachiko said as she stared at Yumi a moment longer trying to shake what she had just seen out of her head. After a moment she unlocked her phone and navigated to her mother's number before quickly pressing the call button. She knew if she didn't just press the button quickly she would be sitting there for twenty minutes trying to find reasons not to call her. Yumi wearing barely anything was definitely more appealing right now.

She took a deep breath as she heard the phone start ringing.

"Sachiko," Sayako answered quickly with worry thick in her voice. "Where are you? Are you alright?"

"Mother," Sachiko said trying to silence the barrage of questions that were starting. "I am fine, but I won't tell you where I am. Also, I will hang up if you insist I come home, especially if you insist because of the marriage. In fact I don't even want to hear Suguru's name mentioned from this point on."

The phone was silent for a moment before Sayako finally spoke again, "do you really want the wedding cancelled that bad?"

"I do," Sachiko simply responded as she glanced to Yumi who just gave her a reassuring smile. She wasn't sure what was being said, but she knew she needed to be supportive of Sachiko right now.

"Is it because of this other boy you have met? Are you with him now?"

Sachiko stared at Yumi for a few more moments, she remembered the agreement she made with Yumi. "I want the wedding cancelled because of the person I met, yes. . . To answer your other question, yes, I am with them right now."

"I see," Sayako responded before going silent for a minute. "Since you are being uncooperative, can I at least know that you are safe and not doing anything you shouldn't be doing. I don't want you making a mistake that will change your life because you feel you need to prove a point. I have talked with your father about cancelling the marriage."

Sachiko frowned a little, her mother's tone of voice was desperate, worried, and scared. Even though she wanted to be mad that her mother said she was uncooperative at the moment, she couldn't. It was a rare moment where her mother was truly motherly and it broke her heart knowing she was this worried. "You talked with father?"

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

Sayako took a deep breath, "he almost called the police, but after speaking with Youko, I convinced him not to. . . He is furious, but not because you want the wedding cancelled. He is worried about you Sachiko, we both are."

"Does that mean you both understand that I am serious about cancelling this wedding?" Sachiko asked firmly as she felt Yumi give her hand a squeeze.

"We have both agreed to hear what you have to say about cancelling the wedding. However, we would like to discuss this in person. We would also like to meet this person who you have...fallen in love with," Sayako explained. "If it is alright, we would like to have this conversation over dinner tomorrow or the next day. I realize this is on short notice, but you have to understand our concern."

"I do," Sachiko replied quickly to try and put her mother's worries at ease a little. "I am sorry for making you worry so much, but I promise you there is nothing to worry about," she explained before looking at Yumi and smiling. "We would love to meet you and father for dinner tomorrow."

"We will be eating tomorrow night at seven. We are going to the usual restaurant," Sayako explained before stopping and taking a deep breath. "Sachiko, please don't do anything you will regret."

"It's impossible mother. I will see you tomorrow night, and I promise, you will love her as much as I do," she said before hanging up the phone before her mother could say anything else.

She just simply looked at the phone for a few moments before taking a deep breath and looking up to Yumi. "Hopefully that will make it a little less awkward tomorrow night."

"You told your mother you were with a girl," Yumi pointed out as Sachiko nodded fully aware of what she had done.

"Yes," she responded before glancing down at her hand that Yumi was still holding. "I figured there was no point in hiding it anymore, besides, all I want right now is to fulfill the agreement we have and put all of this wedding stuff behind us."

Yumi smiled, "I completely forgot about the agreement," she said as she rested her head on Sachiko's shoulder.

"Thank you for the second chance, I promise I will do whatever it takes to be with you."

Yumi's smile widened as she lifted her head to give Sachiko a kiss before snuggling close to her again, "I know. Just being here right now is proof of what you are willing to do, and I think that far exceeds what I was asking for with our agreement."

"If my parents decline my request to cancel the marriage?" Sachiko asked curiously.

Yumi sighed as she thought about what would happen if Sachiko's parents decided not to cancel the marriage. She wouldn't leave Sachiko, the possibility of that happening right now was pretty much out of the question. Tomorrow night she would come out to her parents and already kind of had in a small way. She wondered if her parents would take them in or if Sachiko could live at her dorm with her. Perhaps even Youko would let her stay here.

Sachiko chuckled causing Yumi to break her thought process and look at her oddly for a moment.

"Sorry," she said before shaking her head a little. "I was just thinking about how ridiculous that thought is. I won't be giving them any other options tomorrow, they _will_ cancel the wedding. If they do somehow still find a way to decide they don't want to then..."

"You can run away with me," Yumi said finishing her sentence as Sachiko looked at her moment to gauge how serious she was. She smiled a moment later, Yumi was completely serious about what she had said.

"Then I will run away with you."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Hello! So it's been too long, but here I am with the final chapter for this story. I know it is a bit rushed, but I didn't want to drag this out too much and another chapter wouldn't have added anything significant to this story. That and I'm personally ready to move on from this one, it has caused me a lot of... frustration? Long story short, I changed it early on and I shouldn't have, it severely hurt my interest in it because I was having a tough time deciding how it should happen. This last chapter especially has been hectic for me. Anyways, enough of my complaining. I hope you like it, I'll see you in the next story!

* * *

Sachiko paced back and forth in the living room as Youko watched from her seat on the couch where she had been working. It's not that Sachiko had been talking to her, but her pacing was hard to ignore, especially since she could see her doing it in the background while looking at her screen.

Deciding she wouldn't get any work done at this time, Youko sighed an closed her laptop before setting it off to the side. "Alright, I'll bite. Why are you pacing so much?"

Sachiko stopped momentarily as she glanced over towards her before starting to pace again. "I'm just nervous is all and this is helping."

"Is it?"

Sachiko glanced back to her for a moment before sighing and taking a seat in a chair across from her. "Honestly, no, but I don't' know what else to do, I'm so nervous."

"Alright, well first off, you look lovely," Youko said as Sachiko frowned a little.

"Thank you, truthfully, I hadn't even thought to see if I was presentable enough for this. . . I should probably take another look at what I've got on actually, this is a big deal," Sachiko said standing from her seat while looking down at the dress she had picked.

Before Sachiko could leave the room Youko was standing in front of her and trying to get her to sit back down. "You look fine, I didn't mean to give you more to worry about."

Sachiko took a deep breath and nodded a little, "thanks."

Youko just smiled in response before walking back towards her own seat. "Where is Yumi?" She asked curiously knowing that Yumi would be the only one that could put Sachiko's mind at ease right now.

"She is changing in our room," Sachiko replied quickly before sighing. "Am I really going to do this?"

"Yes," Youko answered for her as Sachiko looked up to her. "You told me this morning you already mentioned to your mother that you were seeing a girl. I know without a doubt that she has already told your father. The shocking part is over. In fact, I think they will be pleasantly surprised when you sit down with Yumi. You know your parents love her."

Sachiko remained silent for a moment as she thought about things her parents might say when she sat down with Yumi.

"If that isn't enough, there is another reason you are going to do this, and I think this one is important."

Sachiko thought about it for a moment before smiling a little, "it is more important. I promised the woman I love that I would do it."

Youko smiled, "I stand corrected then, there were two things more important. I was going to say that, after tonight, you two can truly live your lives the way you want. Your reason was much better though."

"Thank you, I just hope I don't freeze tonight. I am afraid of what my parents will think, but I can't let Yumi down, not again. If I lose her. . ." Sachiko shook her head trying not to think about that.

"You won't."

Sachiko turned in her seat quickly as she saw Yumi standing nearby smiling at her.

"Regardless of how tonight goes, you will still be my girlfriend. I only asked that you tell your parents, which, you kind of did last night by telling them you were seeing a girl. Besides, like you said last night, if they don't cancel the marriage. . ."

Sachiko smiled knowing exactly what her line was, "then I'll run away with you."

This brought a smile to Yumi's face as she made her way over to Sachiko and gave her a kiss followed by a hug. "I know from experience how nervous you are right now. I promise I will be with you all night."

"I know," Sachiko replied before pulling away from the hug and staring at Yumi for a moment. It was almost surreal being in this moment. She had waited for this for so long and now it was finally going to happen. "We should probably get going, we don't want to be late."

-X-X-

Sachiko turned the car off and looked at the restaurant in front of her. Those nerves she was feeling at Youko's were nothing compared to what she was feeling now. She knew her parents were already here, her mother had sent her a text just as they were leaving Youko's house. That knowledge didn't help her at all.

"Hey," Yumi said as she rested a hand on Sachiko's arm causing the older girl to snap out of her thoughts and realize how tightly she was still gripping the steering wheel. "I love you."

Sachiko blinked once or twice confused, she wasn't sure what prompted Yumi to say that. It wasn't until Yumi smiled at her a little that she realized she was smiling herself. Yumi's words seemingly putting her mind at rest whether she was aware of it or not. "Thank you for that," she said before looking back at the restaurant and taking a deep breath, "I guess it's about time we did this."

"Not quite," Yumi replied as Sachiko looked at her confused for a moment before being gently pulled into a kiss. "You will do great tonight and just remember, that come tomorrow I will still be your girlfriend, no matter what."

Sachiko just nodded in response before taking the keys out of the ignition and climbing out of the car. She wondered if her parents could see her right now, waiting for Yumi to come take her hand. She glanced to the many windows along the side of the restaurant, but she didn't see them. It helped put her mind to rest as they entered the building and approached host.

After finding out where her parents were sitting Sachiko requested that they find their way to the table by themselves.

As soon as Sachiko saw her parents she froze in place unable to move. Yumi quickly took it upon herself to pull Sachiko to the side before her parents saw them.

"I'm sorry," Sachiko apologized immediately. "I just need a moment."

"That's fine," Yumi said feeling a little nervous herself. Neither of them had any idea of how Sachiko's parents would react to Yumi showing up with her.

Sachiko closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "Alright, how do I look?" She asked knowing that standing for too long wouldn't do anything.

"Beautiful," Yumi replied with a smile seemingly knowing that Sachiko was ready to go. Before that happened though, Sachiko leaned down and gave Yumi a long kiss.

"I think I'm ready."

Yumi just gave a nod before taking Sachiko's hand again and being led towards the table. She felt Sachiko's grip tighten when her parents finally spotted them. For the first time tonight, Yumi could feel her heart beating faster than normal.

"Y-Yumi-chan," Sayako said in disbelief as the two stood before them trying to determine if it was a good idea to sit down or run.

Touro looked like he had something to say, but for once, the fierce businessman couldn't say what was on his mind. Seeing Yumi by his daughter's side was the last thing he expected.

"Good evening," Yumi greeted them weakly before looking up to Sachiko who looked uncertain of what she should do.

"Please take a seat," Touro finally said as Sachiko snapped out of her thoughts and pulled a chair out for Yumi before seating herself. She tried to keep as composed as possible, but once she sat down all she could do was awkwardly stare at the menu in front of her while stealing quick glances at her parents.

Yumi on the other hand was a little calmer once they sat down. They weren't being yelled at, yet, so that was a good sign. When she couldn't figure out what to look at she settled for grabbing Sachiko's hand under the table and glancing over the menu.

"Last night, when you said she. . ."

". . .I was talking about Yumi," Sachiko responded finishing her mother's sentence. She wasn't' sure where her voice came from, but she wanted to leave no doubt in her parent's minds that she was in love with Yumi.

Yumi glanced up momentarily, but looked back down right away when she noticed Touro looking right at her.

"Yumi-chan, you are allowed to look at something besides the menu," Touro said trying to lighten the mood a little. He was aware of his somewhat intimidating presence, but he didn't want Yumi to fear him.

Yumi just nodded a little before looking up at Sachiko's parents and then to Sachiko. She wasn't sure if she should say something, so she decided to stay quiet for now.

"Should we leave?" Sachiko asked a moment later feeling that awkward tension at the table again.

"No," Sayako answered immediately. "We want to talk, I guess we just don't know where to begin."

"W-well, I guess I will start by saying that, I am in love with Yumi. She has been my girlfriend for a long-time."

"Am I right in assuming she is the reason you would like the wedding cancelled?" Touro asked as Sachiko looked to Yumi for a moment before nodding.

"Yes," Sachiko answered before taking her eyes off Yumi and looking at her father again. "She is the main reason I want it cancelled. Marrying that... man, would mean leaving Yumi and I just cannot do that. I hurt her not so long ago because of him and it was the worst pain I've ever felt thinking that I had lost her."

"Your relationship sounds pretty serious," Sayako noted as both girls nodded. "What do you think of the marriage arrangement, Yumi-chan?"

"I, uh... I think it should be cancelled, because Sachiko should be free to marry who she wishes. That and... I love her. I don't want her to be with anyone but me, especially someone she doesn't like. . . I know that sounds selfish, I'm sorry."

Touro chuckled to himself, even when nervous Yumi was trying so hard to be polite. "Yumi-chan, there is nothing selfish about that. Seeing as though you two are a couple, I hope it's only natural that you only want her to be with you."

"Right," Yumi nodded feeling like an idiot. Her mouth was working faster than her brain at the moment.

"Where did you two stay last night?" Sayako asked as Sachiko shook her head.

"The same place we will be staying tonight," Sachiko simply responded. She knew better than to answer that question truthfully until she was sure her parents weren't going to try and separate them somehow.

Sayako sighed at her daughter's response, "then at least tell me it's safe, and that you aren't sleeping in your car."

"I promise we are safe. I wouldn't bring Yumi anywhere unsafe. . . I'm sorry I didn't tell you that it was her I was seeing. I wanted to do it in person, I thought telling you over the phone would be disrespectful to Yumi. She deserves more than that. She is special, I wanted you to understand that."

"Sachiko, we knew Yumi was special before any of this," Sayako simply responded. "I admit that knowing you were with her makes me a lot more at ease. I still don't like that you ran away."

"I know, but I hope you see now that I am serious about cancelling this marriage. I want to be with her," Sachiko shook her head realizing she wasn't putting this up for discussion. "No, I will be with her. I am here tonight to see how much you would like to be a part of our lives together."

"I see," Touro spoke before thinking for a moment. "The wedding with Suguru would be good for the business," he thought aloud as both girls looked down at the table. They both knew this was a point that would eventually come up. "If I were to cancel the wedding, how do you propose I deal with a loss of business like this?"

There was silence at the table for a few seconds before Sachiko finally took a deep breath and looked up towards her father. He probably wasn't going to like what she had to say.

"Father, I don't have a nice way to say this, so I will just say it. . . I honestly don't care what it means for the business. I hate that man with every fiber of my being. I mean, I don't even have _Interest_ in men-" Sachiko paused, she had to take a breath or two before she went on a small rant that wouldn't necessarily help things along. She had said what needed to be said. "If the business is your primary concern then...I'll leave. I will separate myself from the Ogasawara name if I must."

Yumi looked over at Sachiko a little surprised. She knew Sachiko was willing to go far, but she never considered this would even be an option.

"Absolutely not," Sayako said firmly as both girls looked to her. They were surprised to see her looking at Touro after saying that. Sachiko thought for sure that was directed at her. "If you even consider this as an option. . ."

Touro put a hand up, his wife's threat was well received and unnecessary. "I wasn't," he said to put Sayako's mind to rest before looking at the girls. "Believe it or not, my family does come before the business."

Sachiko blinked once or twice, she never thought she would hear those words. "Does that mean. . .?"

"Yes."

"Well. . ."

Sayako and Touro looked at one another after they had both answered.

Touro wisely cleared his throat and turned back to his daughter after seeing the glare from his wife, "I meant yes. I think cancelling the engagement can be arranged."

"Can be or will be?" Sachiko asked as her father looked to her mother for a moment.

"Will be," he clarified as Sachiko swore her heart stopped. She knew there was a chance that this would be the outcome, but actually hearing it said was somewhat overwhelming.

All she could do was look to Yumi who was smiling back at her. "We did it," Sachiko said as her smile grew bigger if possible.

Sachiko's parents could only smile themselves, never before had they seen their daughter look at anyone like she was looking at Yumi right now.

"I will have to take care of a few things before it is official, but as far as you're concerned, the wedding is cancelled."

Sachiko nodded as she looked to her father, "thank you. I can't even begin to tell you how much this means to me...to us." Yumi nodded, just like Sachiko, this almost didn't seem real. After years of trying to push Sachiko to tell her parents it had finally happened and she was free.

Both girls couldn't help but think, that this was really the start of living their lives together.

 **Two weeks later**

"This can't be happening."

Yumi frowned as she looked to the floor, she didn't like confrontation.

"It is happening," Sayako replied firmly as she looked to her husband who was sitting at his desk.

"Don't I have a say in this?"

"No," Touro answered as he looked to his daughter and then to Yumi. "My daughter has requested that I cancel this marriage, so it will be cancelled."

Suguru looked over to Sachiko and shook his head, "why now? The wedding was so close. What changed your mind?"

"I met someone," Sachiko simply replied.

"You met someone? Who are they? How are they better than me?"

"I don't have to explain that to you," Sachiko answered with a sigh, she just wanted this part to be over with.

"Do you know how many women would kill for the chance to even call me their boyfriend? You're throwing it away for some nobody."

"Quiet!" Sachiko shouted as she finally looked to Suguru with a glare. "Say one more bad thing about her and I will see that this marriage isn't only cancelled, but that you are in ruins."

"Her?"

"Yes, her," Sachiko replied never taking her eyes off Suguru. "I am cancelling this marriage and leaving you to be with a girl. In fact, even if she wasn't in the picture, I would still be doing this. Believe it or not, I don't like you, nor do I find you attractive. Hopefully all those girls that would kill to be with you are real."

"Sachiko," Touro said with a warning in his voice, he knew his daughter could be a little too direct and hurtful when she was provoked. "I think enough words have been said," Touro said before signing the papers in front of him. "As of now, you two are officially free of this marriage agreement. Sachiko, you are free to be with whoever you wish."

Sachiko glanced to Suguru and smirked as he looked between her and the paper her father had just signed.

"This is a mistake, you will regret this," he said as Sachiko smiled before pulling Yumi close with one arm and making sure he could see it.

"I will never regret what being with her means for me."

 **A week or so later. . .**

"What did Suguru say when you said that?" Yoshino asked curiously as Yumi smiled.

"He was speechless," she explained. "Even more speechless when she kissed me."

"I bet that felt good to do that," Youko said as Sachiko nodded. Their friends had all come over to her parents house for a celebration. Of course, Sachiko and Yumi wouldn't make it through the night without telling them how everything went.

"It did," Sachiko confirmed. "I just can't believe the things he said. He really showed his true colors there and I'm really glad I made the right decision now."

"I think it's safe to say you aren't the only one that is glad," Youko said as Yumi smiled and nodded.

"Glad is an understatement. It feels like I'm living a dream," Yumi confirmed as she looked up to Sachiko just to be greeted with a kiss.

"So, what now? You are free to be with whoever you want, so are you going to propose?!" Yoshino asked barely containing her excitement at the idea.

"Yoshino!"

"What? We all know with this out of the way that there is nothing stopping them from getting married."

"True," Youko said noticing the blush on Sachiko and Yumi's faces. "I think it's just a little too soon."

"For the wedding, yes," Sachiko said as the girls looked to her, "we're still in college. That said being engaged wouldn't be a bad thing."

The room was silent for a moment as the girls all looked at her with surprise.

"Perhaps I will do that soon, for now, I just want to enjoy my freedom with Yumi. We have all the time in the world to worry about that now."


End file.
